Piano Concerto No.3 in D major, Op.50 "Youth"
Allegro molto
Andante con moto
Presto
Dmitri Kabalevsky spent his entire working life within the Soviet Union. The nature of his talent was such that he did not need to live in exile, like his contemporaries Stravinsky and Rachmaninov, or engage in a constant struggle with repressive authorities, like Prokofiev and Shostakovich – he was able to produce a large body of lively and highly original music within the constraints of Soviet life. Following the Party creed that music should be socially useful, he also believed that it should move and entertain, a belief he demonstrated in such works as his comic opera Colas Breugnon (1938) and the concerto we will hear tonight. In writing this Third Piano Concerto (1952) Kabalevsky was following the example of contemporaries like Shostakovich, but for his inspiration he looked back to the great romantic concertos of Tchaikovsky and Rachmaninov. Listen to the dramatic fanfare opening of the first movement, and the swirling piano writing which follows; the austere slow movement with its magical, shimmering central section; and the brilliant, ferociously difficult finale , crowned – like all the best Russian concertos – by an unforgettable and sweeping romantic melody. In the hands of a spirited soloist, it’s an irresistible mixture.
R.G.Bratby 1995
Copyright Classical Notes.co.uk 2000
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