A New Take on an Old Warhorse

Piano Concerto No. 1 by Russian composer Peter Tchaikovsky is not only one of his most popular compositions but also one of the most popular piano concertos in the repertory. Those three big chords on the piano at the beginning of the work are instantly recognizable. However, those chords are not exactly what Tchaikovsky had in mind when he wrote the concerto. Since the composer’s death in 1893, his first piano concerto has been published and performed in a version containing numerous alterations. Two examples: those piano chords in the opening movement were, back in Tchaikovsky’s day, arpeggios – “broken” chords in which the notes are played in succession rather than all together; and in the third movement, there were a few additional bars of music which have been removed. It’s not entirely clear who was responsible for making these changes.

But there’s a recording of the concerto which uses a score, dating from 1879, which Tchaikovsky himself used when he conducted the concerto, right up until his last public appearance in 1893. The soloist in this recording is award-winning pianist Kirill Gerstein, who was born in the former Soviet Union and is now an American citizen based in Berlin, Germany. He studied in Boston and New York and is now a professor in Germany. His recording of this Tchaikovsky concerto was honored with an ECHO Klassik Award as “Concerto Recording of the Year” in 2015, and you can hear it on Classical KCME this coming Sunday morning! On September 19th at 11:00, Fred Kormos will be airing this groundbreaking recording of Tchaikovsky’s Piano Concerto No. 1, using Tchaikovsky’s own score, for the first time on KCME. Fred enthusiastically invites you to join him!