Orchestra dell’Accademia Nazionale di Santa Cecilia / Igor Levit / Sir Antonio Pappano
Schönberg / Busoni
Piano concerto of extravagances
There are piano concertos aplenty. But none contains quite such extravagances as the one penned by the eccentric Italian Ferruccio Busoni in 1904: a male choir in the final part, for instance, or a total playing time of over an hour. And as a result it is, sadly, rarely performed. But now an all-star team is combining their resources to stage the work: with Sir Antonio Pappano conducting his Roman orchestra, and the ever-awake Igor Levit who has a particular soft spot for such gems in the repertoire.
Busoni incorporated a number of influences into his opulent piano concerto: References back to Liszt, Brahms and folk music, along with verses by the Danish poet Oehlenschläger. Arnold Schoenberg’s piece »Verklärte Nacht« (»Transfigured Night«) also sits on the threshold between the 19th and 20th centuries, where the enormous musical upheavals of modernity are already coming to the fore.
Performers
Orchestra dell’Accademia Nazionale di Santa Cecilia
Coro dell’Accademia Nazionale di Santa Cecilia – Roma
Igor Levit piano
conductor Sir Antonio Pappano
Programme
Arnold Schönberg
Verklärte Nacht op. 4 (Fassung für Streichorchester)
– Interval –
Ferruccio Busoni
Konzert für Klavier und Orchester mit Männerchor op. 39