Rimsky-Korsakov: Piano Concerto (1950) Richter/Kondrashin

Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov Piano Concerto in C-sharp minor, Op. 30 1. Moderato—Allegretto quasi polacca (0:08) 2. Andante mosso (6:26) 3. Allegro (10:39) Sviatoslav Richter, pianist Kirill Kondrashin, conductor Moscow Youth Orchestra Recorded on February 17, 1950 Moscow, USSR (Russia) Balakirev approached Rimsky-Korsakov with the idea of composing a piano concerto, in spite of the fact that the composer himself was not a pianist. Taking his inspiration from Liszt, to whom the concerto is dedicated, the concerto developed as a piece played without pause between the movements. But the similarity ends there, Rimsky-Korsakov built his music around thematic material which was inspired by folk melodies. There is an Asian flavor to the music, which is one of the concerto’s most noticeable features. Composed between 1882 and 1883, the work got its premiere under the baton of Balakirev in St. Petersburg in 1884. Although lesser known in the West due to its length,