# Tchaikovsky - Op. 23 - Piano Concerto No. 1



## HansZimmer (11 mo ago)

How do you rate this piece?

Here below you find the following recording:
Vienna Symphony Orchestra
Pianist: Sviatoslav Richter
Conductor: Herbert von Karajan


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## Scherzi Cat (8 mo ago)

I love this work! Some say it is too sugary but that’s what I like about it. It has been called “the greatest battle between piano and orchestra” and for good reason. Fireworks abound! Here os my favorite recording of it.


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## Bulldog (Nov 21, 2013)

Quite bad. I do not appreciate Tchaikovsky's music and find this concerto one of his least appealing creations.


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## mbhaub (Dec 2, 2016)

George Szell hated it, called it a "piece of s***" when he stormed off the stage after one performance. Yet he gave us one of the most miraculous recordings of it with Gary Graffman. Tchaikovsky thought his second concerto was better. Critics despise it. There are endless articles disparaging it for its bad formal design, it's vulgarity and crudeness. Yet no wannabe pianist can ignore it, although few can really play it correctly; in this, Nikolay Rubinstein was right: the piano part is extremely difficult. There are so many excellent recordings. There are old ones with Rubinstein and Horowitz that are sensationally exciting, alas the sound is lousy.The recording I treasure the most: Emil Gilels with Reiner and the Chicago Symphony on a 70 year old RCA recording. The concerto does what all great art should: connects with the listener and create some emotional response. Great, great music.


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## HansZimmer (11 mo ago)

mbhaub said:


> George Szell hated it, called it a "piece of s***" when he stormed off the stage after one performance. Yet he gave us one of the most miraculous recordings of it with Gary Graffman. Tchaikovsky thought his second concerto was better. Critics despise it. There are endless articles disparaging it for its bad formal design, it's vulgarity and crudeness. Yet no wannabe pianist can ignore it, although few can really play it correctly; in this, Nikolay Rubinstein was right: the piano part is extremely difficult. There are so many excellent recordings. There are old ones with Rubinstein and Horowitz that are sensationally exciting, alas the sound is lousy.The recording I treasure the most: Emil Gilels with Reiner and the Chicago Symphony on a 70 year old RCA recording. The concerto does what all great art should: connects with the listener and create some emotional response. Great, great music.


It's an example of a piece where you only have to listen to the first minute and the last minute to understand the overall quality of the piece.


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## mbhaub (Dec 2, 2016)

HansZimmer said:


> It's an example of a piece where you only have to listen to the first minute and the last minute to understand the overall quality of the piece.


Oh, but you'd miss that beautiful second movement...


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## Rogerx (Apr 27, 2018)

Excellent, we are so spoiled by so many good recordings, the ones I play most are : Andrei Gavrilov /Martha Argerich and Ivo Pogorelich .


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## Otis B. Driftwood (5 mo ago)

A little background info about the three different versions of this piece;


> Despite negative criticism from pianist Nikolai Rubinstein, Tchaikovsky had the first version of the concerto published in 1875. The second version, which has been recorded here, incorporated small practical adjustments to the piano part made by Tchaikovsky. It was published in 1879 and used by him in subsequent performances including in 1893 at the last concert he conducted when he paired the Piano Concerto with the world première of his Pathétique Symphony. Tchaikovsky died within days of the performance, and the third version of the Concerto was published a year after his death. According to Kirill (Gerstein) it “contains a number of editorial changes that differ from the text of Tchaikovsky’s own score, were not authorized by him and made posthumously.”


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## Art Rock (Nov 28, 2009)

Bulldog said:


> Quite bad. I do not appreciate Tchaikovsky's music and find this concerto one of his least appealing creations.


The same here, but leave out the word 'not'. Tchaikovsky is one of my extended favourites (top 30 for sure), but this concerto, well, no thanks.


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## Ethereality (Apr 6, 2019)

Rather childish. 3/6.


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## Kreisler jr (Apr 21, 2021)

It's a brilliant piece (and PIT was wrong about the 2nd... )
I rarely listen to it now but unlike the violin concerto I enjoy it quite a bit when I do (it's totally smashing in a live performance, if played competently). 
I don't know what's "crude" about it. Compared to Mozart? Maybe, but compared to Rachmaninoff, Grieg and other late romantics (or the dozens of mediocre pieces unearthed in that Hyperion edition), not sure why. 
The finale is really one of my favorite concerto movements, I cannot see anything wrong with it, it has more drive and better tunes than all 4 of Rachmaninoff's together. The middle movement is a bit lightweight and "salon-like" (but that's actually where PIT is best and the movement does not pretend to be anything more, the function is a bit like the middle movement of the Moonlight sonata).
I do have a problem with the long and "split" first movement where the climax at the beginning steals the show for the rest although a professional pianist I know (and who is far more a "Brahms guy") defended the originality of the design and the quality of the fast section. In any case the movement works in the proper hands.
(I wonder if, like in the case of the Schumann concerto, the first movement might have originally been a complete "fantasy" by its own)


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## haziz (Sep 15, 2017)

Excellent. My favorite piano concerto after the Grieg concerto.


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## Chilham (Jun 18, 2020)

I seem to enjoy and appreciate Tchaikovsky more than some, but his Piano Concerto No. 1 is not one of my most preferred pieces. 3/7 on the 'Chilhamometer', so I voted, "Good".


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## Animal the Drummer (Nov 14, 2015)

Tchaikovsky's not a favourite of mine overall but this is one of my favourites among his output. I also like the fact that in my experience it's helped to draw a number of non-specialist listeners into classical music, so I voted Very Good.


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## HansZimmer (11 mo ago)

Kreisler jr said:


> I don't know what's "crude" about it. Compared to Mozart?


Mozart is the great composer of the galant music, but he doesn't represent the whole history of the western music. This piece of Tchaikovsky captures very well the highly emotional spirit of romantic music: it's romantic music in it's purest form.

Before to discuss if a piece of music is good or not, we should specify what do we expect from music. This piece is what I expect from romantic music.


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## bharbeke (Mar 4, 2013)

I love this piece. Here are the versions that I have found the best:

Ogdon/Monteux/LSO
Lang Lang/Barenboim/CSO
Paik/Sinaisky/Seoul Philharmonic
Ashkenazy/Maazel/LSO
Rana/Pappano/Orchestra dell'Academia nazionale di Santa Cecilia

I have in my notes that the performance was top notch with Richter/Karajan/Vienna Symphony in the first post, but the recording I had access to had scratchy sounds from the LP. If you have a proper digitized version, then it would also be a recommendation from me.


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## Kreisler jr (Apr 21, 2021)

crude mainly/literally means raw, "unrefined", doesn't it? (like crude oil) 
Compared to Mozart (and his time) a lot of later music might appear a bit unrefined (like late 19th century male dress is very boring and literally grey compared to 1780s  but this would be the wrong perspective. 
I don't think Tchaikovsky's concerto lacks refinement (the second movement seems, if anything, too refined, like the sugar fairy of Confiturembourg). I rarely listen to the piece nowadays and have never really compared recordings (although because of collector's boxes I have far more recordings than I need), my favorite used to be a crazy live account with Richter and Mravinsky (BMG Melodiya).


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## golfer72 (Jan 27, 2018)

This piece is what got me interested in CM. I get that its not some folks favorite and may have some issues etc but to call it horrible is kind of absurd to me


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## Judith (Nov 11, 2015)

Yes, but is just too popular for me. Love underrated works such as no 2.
If only Nikolai Rubinstein knew the impact it has on todays classical world.


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## Xisten267 (Sep 2, 2018)

Excellent, an incredibly beautiful concerto. But in my opinion Tchaikovsky has much more profound works, that I enjoy more.

Since some other members gave their scores to the piece, here is mine: 8/10.


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## Bernamej (Feb 24, 2014)

Tchaikovsky is with Chopin, the greatest melodist of all humanity. This concerto is another testament to his genius.


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## SONNET CLV (May 31, 2014)

No vote less than an "Excellent" from me.

I first heard this piece at the start of my initiation into the world of "classical music." It was probably the second or third classical music record I bought. After hearing "Capriccio Italien" I wanted to hear more Tchaikovsky. The recording was the Ashkenazy/Maazel/LSO.


















This record remains in my vinyl disc collection after well over half a century now. It is possibly the most worn-out-grooves disc in my collection, but a couple of years ago, at the start of the vinyl resurgence, I was able to pick up a new 180 gram repressing of this same disc, which is now my go-to for this concerto. I have the same recording on CD, and I have several other recorded interpretations of this concerto, on both vinyl and CD. (My Discogs database tells me I have well over a dozen versions available for play, including those with Richter/Ancerl, Richter/Kondrashin, Richter/Mravinsky, Richter/Karajan, Argerich/Kondrashin, Horowitz/Toscanini, Levant/Ormandy, Blumental/Gielen, Rubinstein/Barbirolli, Watts/Bernstein, Feltsman/Rostropovich and Cliburn/Reiner among them.) But it remains the Ashkenazy/Maazel/LSO vinyl disc that captures my heart, and ears with the greatest force. _This_ (with italics!) is "classical music" at its best.


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## HansZimmer (11 mo ago)

Xisten267 said:


> Excellent, an incredibly beautiful concerto. But in my opinion Tchaikovsky has much more profound works, that I enjoy more.
> 
> Since some other members gave their scores to the piece, here is mine: 8/10.


8/10 means good, not excellent.


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## HansZimmer (11 mo ago)

Bernamej said:


> Tchaikovsky is with Chopin, the greatest melodist of all humanity.


I think that Mozart, in average, was a better melodist. Tchaikovsky wrote nice melodies only when he was in the right mood.


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## Xisten267 (Sep 2, 2018)

HansZimmer said:


> 8/10 means good, not excellent.


To me 8/10 means much better than "good", and 9/10 or 10/10 are way better than just "excellent".


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## larold (Jul 20, 2017)

One of the greatest moments and recordings in classical music history


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## Doublestring (Sep 3, 2014)

Excellent. My favorite recording is with Horowitz and Toscanini. Kurtag's _Játékok_ contains a great parody, with clusters instead of triads.


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## hammeredklavier (Feb 18, 2018)

16 Pianists Play Tchaikovsky Octaves


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## Sid James (Feb 7, 2009)

My favourite piece involving piano by Tchaikovsky would be his trio. Nevertheless, I like this concerto, and I think its greater than the sum of its parts. It hangs together well despite not being too thematically unified, at least in comparison to some other works by him. The introduction must be one of the most famous in the repertoire. 

I particularly like the second movement, with that outburst of energy interrupting the simple folk-like tune, and also the brilliant finale. I've got it on the Gavrilov disc which also has music by Balakirev and Prokofiev, and I think that Tchaikovsky fits in well between the nationalists and modernists. Prokofiev's first concerto was considered radical, but he still went with convention, restating the introductory theme at the end of the piece.


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## Brahmsianhorn (Feb 17, 2017)

Favorites:

Horowitz/Toscanini
Solomon/Harty
Richter/Ancerl
Argerich/Dutoit


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