After a month or so's hiatus, I am now back to discovering little known Romantic composers - ones I have hitherto never heard of, and really ought to be better known and recognised - and as befoe, my first port of call was YouTube. I am therefore extremely grateful to the small band of enthusiastic uploaders who enjoy sharing these new found and widely undiscovered gems.
In this recording Matthias Aeschenbacher conducts the Danish Philharmonic Orchestra of South Jutland in fellow Danish compser August Winding's only piano concerto, composed in 1868. At the piano is the talented Oleg Marshev, who makes use of the passion and nuance of both his playing and Winding's scoring to good effect.
Born in 1835, Winding was a teacher, pianist and composer, and this, his only concerto is written in the conventional three movements. Starting with a joyous and upbeat, but very typically Northern-German- Romantic sound (Mendelssohn??) is the allegro con fuoco, with a super coda and end to the movement. The second movement, andantino, is at one at the same time both sorrowful and passionate, intinate and expressive, mournful and rejoicing. The piano melody in this movement is a pure delight and would work as a stand-alone concert piece if the whole concerto was too long to programme. The final movement, allegro giocoso, is just that.. joyous! Again, a lovely tune disguised by Romantic decoration, thick harmony, and the fact that Winding was certainly not afraid of weasring his heart on his sleeve.
Lyrical, tuneful, beautiful, and truly deserves to be heard much more than it obviously is.
Reviewer - Matthew Dougall
on - 10/10/20
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