Dmitry Kabalevsky -Piano Concerto No. 2,3 번

Dmitry Kabalevsky

Kabalevsky c. 1940

 

[O.S. 17 December] 1904 – 14 February 1987^[1]) was a Russian composer.

He helped to set up the Union of Soviet Composers in Moscow and remained one of its leading figures. He was a prolific composer of piano music and chamber music; many of his piano works have been performed by Vladimir Horowitz. He is probably best known in the West for the "Comedians' Galop"

from The Comedians Suite, Op. 26

and his third piano concerto.

 

 

 Piano Concerto No. 2 In G Minor Op. 23  

The Piano Concerto No. 2 in G minor, Op. 23 by Dmitry Kabalevsky was composed in 1935 (just a few years after he joined the faculty of the Moscow Conservatory) and then revised in 1973. It is considered in some quarters to be the composer's masterpiece. Its first performance was given in Moscow on May 12, 1936. It consists of three movements:

• I. Allegro moderato
• II. Andantino semplice
• III. Allegro molto

Though heavily influenced by Prokofiev, the composer nevertheless maintains his own distinctive style throughout the work: sharp, bouncy rhythms and concise thematic building blocks, a well-spun, clever lyricism when the music turns from activity to melody, a clear-cut tonal scheme that nevertheless has room for more surprises and dramatic turns than one might at first suspect, and of course utterly idiomatic keyboard writing. The work demands a player with formidable technique.

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Piano Concerto No. 3 in D major, Op. 50  

I. Allegro molto
II. Andante con moto
III. Presto

Soviet Union State Radio and Television Orchestra

Emil Gilels / Piano
Dmitri Kabalevsky / Conductor

 

The Piano Concerto No. 3 in D major, Op. 50 (subtitled Youth) by Russian composer Dmitri Kabalevsky is one of three concertos (the others are for violin and cello) written for and dedicated to young performers within the Soviet Union in 1952, and is sometimes performed as a student's first piano concerto.

This sunny and tuneful piece manages to combine effective apparent pianistic pyrotechnics whilst keeping it within the range of ability of a keen student.

The piece has three movements:

• I. Allegro molto
• II. Andante con moto
• III. Presto

The opening movement begins with a dramatic trumpet fanfare, followed by swirling piano writing that has a touch of the great piano concertos of Tchaikovsky and Rachmaninov. There is a central dramatic cadenza before the opening theme returns, the movement ending with the same short fanfare.

The second movement begins in G minor in a far more austere style, using pizzicato string notes over which a melody is played in octaves on the piano. There is a shimmering central section at a faster tempo that moves through various major keys before the opening minor theme is restated, but this time with a forte from the full orchestra. The opening quiet atmosphere eventually returns at the end of this movement.

The final movement starts at breakneck speed, which is only briefly interrupted in the middle by a little march. Just before the end a sweeping romantic melody first heard in the first movement is played at full volume before the concerto ends with a prestissimo coda.

The work shares themes in common with Kabalevsky's Rhapsody for Piano and Orchestra, op.75, on the theme of the song "School Years".