New Classical Tracks: Scharwenka's piano concerto

French-Canadian pianist Marc-André Hamelin looks a little like a chemistry professor with his round spectacles and clean-cut appearance. Hamelin has generated plenty of attention from critics who take great pleasure in noting his eccentricities, including how his upper body remains still, while his agile fingers make mincemeat of the toughest piano runs.

International Piano Quarterly recently wrote, Hamelin is "one of the most adventurous, and certainly one of the most courageous pianists of recent times." Hamelin's latest project highlights works written by two hugely successful virtuoso pianists of the 19th century: Anton Rubenstein and Xaver Scharwenka.

Xaver Scharwenka was a Polish pianist and composer born in 1850. His parents struggled to keep food on the table and couldn't always pay the rent on their hired piano. Early on he was self-taught, but eventually he made his way to the New Academy of Music in Berlin to study with another pianist-composer, Theodor Kullak. After just two years, he made his debut as a soloist and his first compositions were published. The publisher, however, wasn't interested in his new two-part Fantasy for piano.

"As it turned out later, the rejection was a great fortune for me," wrote Scharwenka. He continued to refine the work and he orchestrated it.

Making Fantasy for Piano into a concerto led to one of his greatest successes. Shortly after completing it, Scharwenka made a trip to Weimar see Franz Liszt. Liszt already knew him from his piece called "Polish Dance." When the two met, Scharwenka played his new concerto for Liszt, who warmly accepted its dedication. In fact, Liszt became a champion of the Piano Concerto No. 1, opening many doors across Europe for both Scharwenka and his music.

A couple of years later, Gustav Mahler performed the concerto's first movement during his only recorded appearance as a soloist at a concert in Vienna.

Tchaikovsky was also a fan of this concerto. He said this work "stood out from the grey mediocrity" being turned out by other composers at the time. It may remind you of Tchaikovsky's own first piano concerto. But that piece was still completely unknown in Berlin and the surrounding region.

Even though the two composers weren't familiar with one another, there are certainly stylistic similarities, which may simply be a function of the times.

Both concertos open with a dramatic orchestral introduction paving the way for the soloist. While the beginning chords of the Tchaikovsky concerto are bold and romantic, the introduction to the Scharwenka concerto is almost sinister; it feels like a phantom may be lurking in shadows. When the piano joins in, the mood lightens, but a sense of mystery prevails as pianist Marc-André Hamelin strikes a pattern of bold chords with his left hand.

This concerto by Scharwenka is actually very moody. A dark, stormy motif hangs over the first movement. The second movement offers some comic relief as the strings gallop along with the piano. The finale is where Marc-André Hamelin really shows off his technical ability, making it sound absolutely effortless. But, this is 10 minutes of athletic pyrotechnics that could easily earn a gold medal.

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