Gerardo Constantini ([log in to unmask]) wrote:

>Well close to my preferences, but i would put the Rubinstein with
>Wallenstein in the first place.  It is just unsurpasable(for me of course).

I'm afraid for me there is only one pianist for the Grieg:  Percy Grainger.
(He was also Grieg's favourite)

Alas he never got to record the work in the studio, although he was
considered its leading exponent for most of his life.  (He did, oddly,
record just the 1st mvt cadenza for the G&T company in 1903).

There is a 1949 (?) Hollywood Bowl performance with Stokowski (I think
just reissued by Arbiter) which is simply extraordinary.

OK, PG was never overconcerned with accuracy - his hero was the
swashbuckling Eugen d'Albert, Busoni once told him (PG) off for not
practising enough - and by this time he was in his late 60s and the
once tremendous technique was beginning to go.

THis is probably most apparent in his first entry in the finale.
"Approximate" is a kind word, but my word!  the life and freshness of
the performance.

If you want all the notes, in a well-recorded perforamnce, this one is
not for you.

If, OTOH, you want the quintessence of the Grieg Concerto, I think
Grainger is sui generis.

Deryk Barker
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