Xiayin Wang - Tchaikovsky/Scriabin: Piano Concertos (2018) [Official Digital Download 24/96]

Following her acclaimed recording of Tchaikovsky’s Piano Concerto No. 2 in 2016 (Editor’s Choice, Gramophone), Xiayin Wang here completes the trio with No. 1 and the posthumously published No. 3, alongside Scriabin’s only concerto.

Whether Tchaikovsky gave his consent to the virtuoso Alexander Ziloti to revise his Piano Concerto No. 1 is unknown, but Wang here presents the lesser-recorded original version. Piano Concerto No. 3 was originally begun as a symphony, all of which except the first movement was ultimately abandoned; that surviving movement was later completed as a single-movement concert work for piano and orchestra.

Scriabin finished his piano concerto in only a few days, although it took months to orchestrate it before the 1897 premiere. Sensitively played by Wang, the concerto shows a naïve charm that even Scriabin, at his most translucent, would struggle to recapture once his career got underway

Tracklist:
01. Piano Concerto No. 1 in B-Flat Minor, Op. 23, TH 55: I. Allegro non troppo e molto maestoso
02. Piano Concerto No. 1 in B-Flat Minor, Op. 23, TH 55: II. Andantino simplice-Allegro vivace assai
03. Piano Concerto No. 1 in B-Flat Minor, Op. 23, TH 55: III. Allegro con fuoco
04. Piano Concerto No. 3 in E-Flat Major, Op. 75, TH 65
05. Piano Concerto in F-Sharp Minor, Op. 20: I. Allegro
06. Piano Concerto in F-Sharp Minor, Op. 20: II. Andante
07. Piano Concerto in F-Sharp Minor, Op. 20: III. Allegro moderato

Personnel:
Xiayin Wang (piano)
Royal Scottish National Orchestra
Peter Oundjian (conductor)