# What an incredible Piano Concerto.



## beetzart (Dec 30, 2009)

Wow!


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## poconoron (Oct 26, 2011)

Thanks for that............ a very fine concerto indeed!


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## Enthusiast (Mar 5, 2016)

I see it was a juvenile work that Franck later disowned. It doesn't really have that distinctive Franck voice. But I agree - it is a work of some charm and well worth hearing. Thanks for posting it.


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## EdwardBast (Nov 25, 2013)

But the recording is awful! Had to stop listening because of the high pitched buzzing, like they jammed a mic into the back of the piano and caught some internal noise that would only have been audible from two inches away.


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## Guest (Aug 18, 2018)

It IS good. If I recall correctly, he was only 13 years old when he wrote it.


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## Art Rock (Nov 28, 2009)

It's available on a Naxos CD by the way.


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## beetzart (Dec 30, 2009)

carol235 said:


> It IS good. If I recall correctly, he was only 13 years old when he wrote it.


What? That is special if true, a child prodigy and a genius for his age. Have you heard his piano trios? He wrote them before he was 21 and they are incredible. I honestly think Franck is as good as Brahms. If he had written 2 or 3 more symphonies he would have been classed as one of the greatest. But his only symphony is as worthy as 3 symphonies I guess. Violin Sonata. Is his violin sonata the finest one ever written?


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## DaveM (Jun 29, 2015)

EdwardBast said:


> But the recording is awful! Had to stop listening because of the high pitched buzzing, like they jammed a mic into the back of the piano and caught some internal noise that would only have been audible from two inches away.


I'm not hearing it, but my hearing drops off in the upper range so...

This is the Adagio from another recording. Shouldn't be any buzzing there.


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## Guest (Aug 18, 2018)

I have the Naxos CD with Martijn van den Hoek playing the concerto with the Arnhem Philharmonic Orchestra, Roberto Benzi conducting. The liner notes indicate the Concerto, op. 11 was _probably_ written in 1835 when Franck was 13.

I have not heard the piano trios or the Violin sonata but I will have to do so! I have heard his Symphony in D minor and like it.


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## Guest (Aug 18, 2018)

I should have mentioned that Franck's Symphonic Variations and symphonic poem Les Djinns also appear on the above-mentioned Naxos CD but are performed by pianist François-Joël Thiollier.


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## MusicSybarite (Aug 17, 2017)

I don't know this early concerto, so thank you for posting it. Yes, his piano trios deserve to be heard. Amazing stuff.


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## beetzart (Dec 30, 2009)

MusicSybarite said:


> I don't know this early concerto, so thank you for posting it. Yes, his piano trios deserve to be heard. Amazing stuff.


The first trio is powerful stuff. It is driven by a beautifully simple motif throughout the whole piece. I'm still in awe of how such a young mind can produce such complex yet simple wonder. I don't understand the dichotomy of that last phrase.


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## EdwardBast (Nov 25, 2013)

Hmm. Having heard the whole thing I'd say it's interesting historically and a good student effort, but not really worthy of the concert stage, considering how many better concertos there are out there. I wouldn't go out of my way to hear it again.


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## beetzart (Dec 30, 2009)

EdwardBast said:


> Hmm. Having heard the whole thing I'd say it's interesting historically and a good student effort, but not really worthy of the concert stage, considering how many better concertos there are out there. I wouldn't go out of my way to hear it again.


I've listened to it several times of late. It is like a Hummel concerto but a bit more romantic. But yes not a bad effort for a 13 yr old, in fact quite incredible for someone so young. Quite a rare musical brain.


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