# Are there times when you prefer a different cadenza over the original in a concerto?



## DreamBigKeys (Apr 15, 2018)

Cadenzas that I personally prefer over the original:

Busoni's cadenza to Beethoven Piano Concerto No. 1 (recording available by Arthur Rubinstein)
Busoni's cadenza to Mozart Piano Concerto No. 23 (recording available by Vladimir Horowitz)
Brahms's cadenza to Mozart Piano Concerto No. 20 (recording available by Michael Rische)
Brahms's cadenza to Mozart Piano Concerto No. 17 (recording available by Idil Biret)

Cadenzas that I think the original is better:

Beethoven Piano Concerto No. 4 (Beethoven's longer cadenza; though Saint Saens beats Beethoven's shorter cadenza imho)
Beethoven Piano Concerto No. 3
Beethoven Piano Concerto No. 2


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## mbhaub (Dec 2, 2016)

I don't know that the term "original" is correct: in most classical, early romantic era concertos, the cadenza was left up to the performer and the composer didn't provide one. There are some that are so popular that they might be considered original, but they're not. There are some cadenzas that are just traditional and to answer your question, yes, some of the alternatives are shocking at times. For example, there is no original for the Beethoven violin concerto. The ones by Kreisler, Joachim are the best known. But listen to the shocking one that Gidon Kremer played on his recording - it's by Schnittke. So out of place. 

Now, in the Tchaikovsky violin concerto the cadenza is written out - and I like it played that way. Fiddlers who go around and beyond it do annoy me. But of course, since most violinists play the Auer version, with numerous cuts, how much more than they screw it up with a bad cadenza?


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## EdwardBast (Nov 25, 2013)

In cases where the composer has not written definitive cadenzas, I would prefer performers to compose or improvise their own; The excitement of anticipation and uncertainty, not to mention historical authenticity.

Welcome DreamBK!


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## DaveM (Jun 29, 2015)

I prefer hearing new or less heard cadenzas. They give a work new life.

Note the famous Ruggiero Ricci recording of the Brahms Violin Concerto with 16 cadenzas:


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## DreamBigKeys (Apr 15, 2018)

Thanks for the welcome EdwardBast!
Definitely agree with DaveM — perhaps why I like cadenzas by Busoni and Brahms for works from Beethoven or Mozart.

Some cadenzas are too good to me to replace — Rach 1’s cadenza & Beethoven 4 (the longer cadenza of the 2 cadenzas he wrote, the shorter cadenza I don’t care for) come to mind.

But when it comes to some pieces - Mozart’s 20th for example, Beethoven gets stale fast enough because even though I love Beethoven, his cadenza has become predictable. So I opt for Brahms’s cadenza.


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## MarkW (Feb 16, 2015)

One of my favorite memories is of a concert by a regional orchestra that, beacuse they were also playing an original work for piano and orchestra by Frederic Rzewski, also engaged him to play the solo in Beethoven's Fourth Piano Concerto. It was unexceptionable until they got to the first cadenza, which Rzewski extemporized. It was suddenly like being transported to Watts in 1965. A hair-raising experience.


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