LITOLFF : Concerto Symphonique No 2 In B Minor (First Recording) • Concerto Symphonique No 4 In D Minor (Andrew Litton · Bournemouth Symphony Orchestra · Peter Donohoe) (1997) Serie The Romantic Piano Concerto – 14 | FLAC (image+.cue), lossless

The Scherzo from Litolff's Fourth Concerto has long been a Classical lollipop; now find out what the rest sounds like …

Litolff was one of the great virtuosi of the nineteenth century. His five Concertos Symphoniques (the first of which is now unfortunately lost) were of major influence in the transition from the Classically-derived concertos of Hummel, Moscheles and Chopin to the more symphonic late-Romantic concertos. He pioneered the use of a four-movement structure which included a Scherzo (as in Brahms's Second Concerto) and gave the orchestra much more of the thematic material. Indeed, although the piano writing is very brilliant, much of it is accompanimental. The Second Concerto is a real rarity, the orchestral parts proving very hard to locate. This is probably its first performance in over 130 years. Hyperion

Henry Charles Litolff (1818-1891)
    
Concerto symphonique No 2 in B minor Op 22 [32'03]
    
Concerto symphonique No 4 in D minor Op 102 [37'42]

Credits :
Conductor – Andrew Litton
Orchestra – Bournemouth Symphony Orchestra
Piano – Peter Donohoe

LITOLFF : Concerto Symphonique No 3 In E Flat Major • Concerto Symphonique No 5 In C Minor (First Recording) (Peter Donohoe · BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestra · Andrew Litton) (2001) The Romantic Piano Concerto – 26 | FLAC (image+.cue), lossless

This recording is the companion to Donohoe and Litton's earlier recording of Litolff's Concerto Symphoniques 2 & 4 (CDA66889) and completes our survey of the composer's works for piano and orchestra (Litolff's first concerto was never published and is lost).

Both works owe the 'Symphonique' title to their four-movement structure (all Litolff's concertos contain a Scherzo in addition to the three conventional movements), and the importance of the orchestra in their thematic development. The Third Concerto was (along with the Fourth) the most popular in Litolff's lifetime and was written for performance in the Netherlands. It uses two popular Dutch melodies which no doubt explains it early success. The Fifth Concerto is the most obscure of the four extant works yet it is the most ambitious in scale with a particularly imposing orchestral exposition. Unfortunately by the time the work was composed (1867) Litolff had faded from the public eye and the work received few, if any, performances. It's Scherzo, obviously modelled on the equivalent 'hit' piece from the Fourth Concerto, has the potential to be almost as popular, though it's virtuosic leaping octave passages are likely to deter all but the most muscular of pianists. Hyperion

Henry Charles Litolff (1818-1891)
                
Concerto symphonique No 3 in E flat 'National Hollandais' Op 45[30'47]
                        
Concerto symphonique No 5 in C minor Op 123[35'08]

Credits :
Conductor – Andrew Litton
Leader – Elisabeth Layton
Orchestra – BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestra
Piano – Peter Donohoe