If you like your Prokofiev and Bartók piano concertos, you’ll love this dramatic new concerto by the US-based, Russian pianist-composer
Arsentiy Kharitonov
Concerto for Piano and Orchestra
Sound Atlas 1 95269 32989 1
4 STARS
If you love Prokofiev and Bartók piano concertos, you’ll like this new concerto by US-based, Russian composer-pianist Arsentiy Kharitonov. A first prize winner at the Los Angeles International Liszt Competition for pianists and also at Russia’s All-National Competition of Young Composers, Kharitonov, 41,
Kharitonov in performance
The composer lays down a marker with the single fortissimo note struck deep in the piano’s bass and which opens the aptly named Risoluto, a confident and arresting first movement. The Scherzo second movement is a dazzling display of rapid-fire passagework accompanied by hammer blows from the orchestra that ends with a single bird-like call from the woodwind. The dark and wistful Adagio third movement offers some respite before the work concludes with the Ciaccona fourth whose unstoppable energy recalls the Risoluto.
Throughout, the Kandinsky Symphony Orchestra, under the direction of Kaveh Sule, provide strong support. The recording quality is first-class.
John Evans