# Would you cats pay $8.99 for 50+ Piano Concertos?



## Oldhoosierdude (May 29, 2016)

Would you cats pay $8.99 for 50+ Piano Concertos? Well, I did and I am extremely happy with this purchase. I've listened completely through this set one time and parts of it more than once. I'm impressed.

The link: https://www.amazon.com/Romantic-Pia...01ENZSFFY/ref=cm_cr_arp_d_product_top?ie=UTF8








Now the rest of the story. 
•	They are not all strictly speaking Piano Concertos. Some are more like piano works and not 
all are from the Romantic era of Classical music.

•	The $8.99 is for the download, not the 40 CD's. And the download is about half of the collection. The other half is available from Presto, not Amazon.
•	These are mostly lesser known works by mostly lesser known composers and lesser known soloists with lesser known Orchestras.

I found this set while looking for a particular work. I took a chance because I was intrigued by the "unknown-ness" of it all. A listeners impressions. I have no musical ability or education. I'm a listener.

•	The works and many of the Composers are lesser known or completely unknown to me. There are 8 or 10 that I consider on par with any of the more famous and well known works we have all heard time and again. There are 5 or 6 I didn't much care for. And the rest of the 50+ are all good and enjoyable to listen to.
•	I consider the sound quality to be as good as anything else recorded during the 60's to the 80's. There are maybe 5 or so with not as good sound, but still good enough. The rest are fine.
•	As for soloist, Ponti, Galling, Klein, Demus and maybe 1 or 2 others were known to me. Ponti has a number of recordings here and I have always liked his playing. But all of the soloists are what I consider as good as anyone else. Again, a listeners viewpoint. They all sound great to me.
•	The Orchestras are unknown to me for the most part. Southwest German Chamber Orchestra, Orchestra of Radio Luxembourg, Philharmonic Teatro Regio Torino, to name a few. Never heard of them, or their Conductors. But they all play wonderfully.

You can download the 40CD booklet here: http://www.brilliantclassics.com/articles/r/romantic-piano-concertos/

You can download volume 2 for $10 at Presto here: http://www.prestoclassical.co.uk/r/Brilliant+Classics/95403. I haven't had time to look through this volume yet. If it is of the same quality as volume 1, I will probably purchase.

If you purchase both volumes you will have 109 (by my count) and about 43 hours of great and lesser known Piano Concertos.

Unknown works, unknown Composers, unknown soloists, unknown Orchestras. What more can you ask?


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## Oldhoosierdude (May 29, 2016)

As a follow up, here is a list of the works in volume one as provided by an Amazon reviewer.

1-3 Johann Baptist Cramer, Piano Concerto No.5 in C minor Op. 48
4 Carl Czerny, Divertissement de concert Op. 204
5-7 Ferdinand Ries, Piano Concerto No. 3 in C sharp minor Op.55

8-10 Muzio Clementi, Piano Concerto in C
11-13 John Field, Piano Concerto No 2 in A flat H31
14-16 Johann Nepomuk Hummel, Piano Concerto in G Op. 73

17-19 Ignaz Moscheles, Piano Concerto in G minor Op. 58
20-22 Ferdinand Hiller, Piano Concerto No.2 in F sharp minor Op.69
23-26 Henry Litolff, Concerto symfonique No. 3 in E flat Op. 45

27-29 Friedrich Kalkbrenner, Piano Concerto No. 1 in D minor Op.61
30-32 Johann Nepomuk Hummel, Piano Concerto No.4 in E Op. 110 "Les Adieux"

33-39 Carl Mari von Weber, Piano Concerto No. 1 in C Op. 11; Piano Concerto No. 2 in E flat Op.32; Konzertsuck for piano and orchestra in F minor Op. 79
40 Robert Volkmann, Konzertsuck for piano and orchestra Op. 42

41-43 Adolf von Henselt, Piano Concerto in F minor Op. 16
44 Ferdinand Hiller, Konzertsuck for piano and orchestra Op. 113
45 Fryderyk Chopin, Allegro de concert in A Op.46

46-49 Moritz Moszkowski, Piano Concerto in E Op. 59
50-52 Xaver Scharwenka, Piano Concerto No.2 in C minor Op. 56

53-55 Joachim Raff, Piano Concerto in C minor Op. 185
56 Mihaly Mosonyi, Piano Concerto in E minor
57-59 Bernhard Stavenhagen, Piano Concerto No. 1 in B minor Op. 4

60-62 Felix Mendelssohn Concerto for Violin and Piano in D minor MWV O 4
63-65 Felix Mendelssohn Piano Concerto in A minor MWV O 2

66 Franz Liszt, Malediction
67 Eugen d'Albert, Piano Concerto No. 2 in E Op. 12
68-70 Hans von Bronsart, Piano Concerto in F sharp minor Op. 10

71 Franz Berwald, Piano Concerto No. 1 in D
72 Charles-Henri Alkan, Concerto da camera No.2 in C sharp minor
73 Robert Schumann, Konzertstuck in G Op.92
74 Joachim Raff, Ode to Spring Op. 76
75 Franz Liszt, Totentanz

76-78 Simon Mayr, Piano Concerto No. 1 in C
79-81 Albert Roussel, Piano Concerto in G Op.36
82-84 Gabriel Pierne, Piano Concerto in C minor Op.12

85-89 Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky, Piano Concerto No. 3 in E flat Op. 75/79; Concert Fantasy Op.56

90-92 Christian Sinding, Piano Concerto in D flat Op. 6
93-94 Hermann Goetz, Piano Concerto No. 2 in B flat Op.18

95-97 Carl Reinecke, Piano Concerto No. 1 in F sharp minor Op.72
98 Felix Mendelssohn, Capriccio brillant Op.22
99-101 Josef Rheinberger, Piano Concerto in A flat Op.94

102-104 Anton Rubinstein, Piano Concerto No. 4 in D minor Op. 70
105-107 Sigismond Thalberg, Piano Concerto in F minor Op.5

108-109 Nikolai Medtner, Piano Concerto No. 3 in E minor Op.60
110-111 Mily Balakirev, Piano Concerto No. 2 in E flat
112 Sergei Lyapunov, Rhapsody on Ukranian Themes

113-115 Edouard Lalo, Piano Concerto in F minor
116 Alexander Glazunov, Piano Concerto No. 2 in B Op. 100

117-119 George Gershwin, Concerto in F for piano and orchestra
120-122 Samuel Barber, Piano Concerto Op.38

123-125 Edward MacDowell, Piano Concerto No. 2 in D minor Op.23
126-129 Amy Beach, Piano Concerto in C sharp minor Op.45


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## Pugg (Aug 8, 2014)

> Unknown works, unknown Composers, unknown soloists, unknown Orchestras. What more can you ask?


I prefer them ad CD, is that possible?


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## bigshot (Nov 22, 2011)

There is a set of unknown romantic piano concertos that was selling cheap. I found lots of great stuff in it. Was it Brilliant Classics? It was on CD.

Edit: Yes, but it had a different cover. I may have gotten it from Europe.
https://www.amazon.com/Romantic-Pia...s=romantic+piano+concertos+brilliant+classics

This set is derived from an LP label from the 70s, Candide.


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## Pugg (Aug 8, 2014)

bigshot said:


> There is a set of unknown romantic piano concertos that was selling cheap. I found lots of great stuff in it. Was it Brilliant Classics? It was on CD.
> 
> Edit: Yes, but it had a different cover. I may have gotten it from Europe.
> https://www.amazon.com/Romantic-Pia...s=romantic+piano+concertos+brilliant+classics
> ...


Both having the same cover, the actual CD is much more expensive now.


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## Oldhoosierdude (May 29, 2016)

Right this is from Brilliant Classics. A 40 CD set. The original releases were Vox/Turnabout albums on vinyl. 

The Amazon link should work and the CD release still available for $94.

Why Brilliant is going so cheap on the mp3, who knows. It's also strange that volume 2 mp3 is only available from Presto and Presto doesn't have volume 1.


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## jegreenwood (Dec 25, 2015)

As a fan of guitar music, I downloaded 2 of the 5 volumes of Brilliant's 40 disc Guitar Anthology from Presto. Each volume was $12 for CD quality FLAC files. I know that Presto had an issue getting one of the volumes available for download, but it showed up a couple days after I first checked.

The only problem is that there was no booklet(s) available (confirmed with Presto at the time) and the metadata was incomplete, so in a number of cases, I don't know who the performers are. But for the price, I'm happy.

(If anyone knows where I can find a booklet, can you post or message me?)


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## SixFootScowl (Oct 17, 2011)

Awesome find. This should also be in the Ridiculous Bargains CDs and MP3s thread. Great for MP3, not so great for us CD lovers, but we do bend at times when awesome deals come up in MP3 like this. However, me not being much into piano at this time and too preoccupied with opera, I would not have time for it. Still, might be good to purchase and tuck away for some future moment.


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## bigshot (Nov 22, 2011)

Pugg said:


> Both having the same cover, the actual CD is much more expensive now.


Mine has a different cover. I may have ordered it from Europe. If you want the CDs, it might be worth looking there. I think I paid a buck or so a disc.


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## Pugg (Aug 8, 2014)

bigshot said:


> Mine has a different cover. I may have ordered it from Europe. If you want the CDs, it might be worth looking there. I think I paid a buck or so a disc.


I did a search, nowhere near the "original " low prices, so I put the barcode in my diary and will search from time to time.
Anyway, thank you very much for the information.


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## proffrink (Dec 2, 2016)

Was actually going to mention this in the "Ridiculous bargains" thread, but I didn't bother, since it seems most of the people here seem to have a severe aversion to downloads (even when they're bit-for-bit identical to the physical discs, just in a different format).

That entire thread was like, "Hey, here's over 36 hours of amazing music for $10!" "BOOOO-RINGGG!!!'
"Hey, here's two physical CDs for $20!" "OMG, BUYBUYBUY!1!1!"

So, yeah...

But for those actually interested, you can get both sets on 7digital here and here. Costs about £18/$21/22€ for both sets in MP3 format or £24/$29/31€ in FLAC.

Actually, there's a lot of good bargains on box sets there.

(Note: I get that some people are older and are just used to using physical discs. That's fine. Also, I prefer physical discs over downloads, too, because they're fun to collect and look at on a shelf and also serve as a physical backup. Oh, and you can resell them and physically hold and read the liner notes. But sometimes, a bargain is just too good to pass up! Best to be practical, IMHO.)


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## Oldhoosierdude (May 29, 2016)

proffrink said:


> Was actually going to mention this in the "Ridiculous bargains" thread, but I didn't bother, since it seems most of the people here seem to have a severe aversion to downloads (even when they're bit-for-bit identical to the physical discs, just in a different format).
> 
> (Note: I get that some people are older and are just used to using physical discs..)


I was concerned at one point that mp3 meant a loss of sound quality that I would notice. But knowledgeable TC people helped me see differently. Now I have zero aversion to downloads from reputable sources. And I have been said to be 'older' (59). But yes, some others prefer physical products,, good for them. I keep all files of all kinds backed up several places, probably overkill.


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## SixFootScowl (Oct 17, 2011)

Oldhoosierdude said:


> I was concerned at one point that mp3 meant a loss of sound quality that I would notice. But knowledgeable TC people helped me see differently. Now I have zero aversion to downloads from reputable sources. And I have been said to be 'older' (59). But yes, some others prefer physical products,, good for them. I keep all files of all kinds backed up several places,* probably overkill*.


Better too many backups than too few.


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## Oldhoosierdude (May 29, 2016)

Florestan said:


> Better too many backups than too few.


I'm a writer with humble amounts of publication. I don't want any of it lost . My hard drive gets backed up several times in several ways. I recommend it.


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## SixFootScowl (Oct 17, 2011)

Oldhoosierdude said:


> I'm a writer with humble amounts of publication. I don't want any of it lost . My hard drive gets backed up several times in several ways. I recommend it.


Ideally, one of them off site. Although, I think with many of these downloads you can re-download it multiple times after paying once, so in a way it is sort of backed up for the OP's set.


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## Oldhoosierdude (May 29, 2016)

I went ahead and purchased volume 2 and glad I did. I 'm about 50%through it. A little different flavor than volume 1 but still fantastic. Look for the magnificent Padarewski work:

Ignacy Paderewski 1860-1941 
Piano Concerto in A minor Op.17 
4 I. Allegro 16'19 
5 II. Romanza: Andante 7'54 
6 III. Finale: Allegro molto vivace 9'17 
Felicja Blumental piano
Vienna Symphony Orchestra / Helmuth Froschauer I

A different kind/style / whatever it's called. But elegant and beautifully played.

But the high point thus far:

Giovanni Battista Viotti 1755-1824 
Piano Concerto in G minor 
1 I. Allegro maestoso 18'06 
2 II. Adagio non troppo 8'22 
3 III. Rondo 12'00 
Felicja Blumental piano
RAI National Symphony Orchestra / Alberto Zedda

A YouTube to the same recording. The 3rd movement is a match for any other better known concerto out there.

https://www.google.com/url?sa=t&sou...MQwqsBCCIwAQ&usg=AOvVaw0VTJzWxrN8ZFOD4xbU2nov

https://www.google.com/url?sa=t&sou...QwqsBCCIwAQ&usg=AOvVaw0VTJzWxrN8ZFOD4xbU2nov#


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## Oldhoosierdude (May 29, 2016)

I have owned both sets for a while now and keep them in my listening queue. Cost for the downloads holds steady. It's cool to just pick a place anywhere and start listening.


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## KenOC (Mar 7, 2011)

And if all that doesn't satisfy your longing for cheapness, you can get the Bach Guild Big Piano Concertos Box, 10+ hours for 99 cents. Good reviews.

https://www.amazon.com/Big-Piano-Co...&refinements=p_n_feature_browse-bin:625150011


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## Oldhoosierdude (May 29, 2016)

https://www.chandos.net/products/catalogue/BT 1176

Chandos has volume 2 for L4.99 ($6.40 US) for the mp3.


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## Oldhoosierdude (May 29, 2016)

KenOC said:


> And if all that doesn't satisfy your longing for cheapness, you can get the Bach Guild Big Piano Concertos Box, 10+ hours for 99 cents. Good reviews.
> 
> https://www.amazon.com/Big-Piano-Co...&refinements=p_n_feature_browse-bin:625150011


Tchaikovsky PC with John Ogden and Pierre Monteux and the LSO is too good to be true.


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