Tchaikovsky: Piano Concerto No. 2 in G major, Op. 44

Emil Gilels (1916–1985), along with Sviatoslav Richter, was one of the most celebrated pianists of the 20th century.

These rare broadcast recordings make their first appearance on CD.

The live recording of the Beethoven Piano Concerto No.4 from the 1966 Edinburgh Festival together with the distinguished accompaniment of Sir John Barbirolli produce a performance of great poetry, imagination and power. Gilels had a wonderful, discriminating ear and throughout the concerto brings a chamber music quality to his playing when the score demands.

Gilels recorded the work in the studio in 1957 and 1968 but there are very few live performances available where the pianist is ‘caught on the wing’ in good sound.

The Tchaikovsky Piano Concerto No.2 in the abridged version by Siloti from 1959 brings out Gilels’ incredible technique and virtuosity (The New York Times dubbed him ‘the little giant’) with Kirill Kondrashin transforming the LPO into an authentic Russian-sounding orchestra.

Ambient Mastering adds an extra dimension to these distinguished performances recorded over 45 years ago.

This album complements the three previous Tchaikovsky releases in the series (Swan Lake, Sleeping Beauty and The Nutcracker) and features a condensed version of the dramatic ballet Onegin, created by John Cranko in Stuttgart and now performed by major companies all over the world. It uses piano music by Tchaikovsky arranged and orchestrated by Kurt-Heinz Stolze. The rest of the programmes consists of three major ballets choreographed by George Balanchine created on extracts from Tchaikovsky’s Suite for Orchestra No.3 in G (Theme and Variations) and his Symphony No.3 in D ‘Polish’ (Jewels: Diamonds) plus the complete version of his Piano Concerto No.2 in G (Ballet Imperial).

The Romantic Piano Concerto series reaches Volume 50. This series has been described as a jewel in Hyperion’s crown and one of the glories of the recording industry. Rarely in the history of recorded music has such a rich seam of undiscovered delights been mined to such consistently dazzling effect. These first fifty volumes include 131 works for piano and orchestra: fifty-nine of these works are premiere recordings and many other featured works have only been recorded once before. The performers include some of the greatest pianists, orchestras and conductors in the world, and each disc in itself is a miracle of virtuosity, scholarship and musicianship.

For Volume 50, a stellar cast has been assembled for a two-disc set that includes, unusually, one of the most famous concertos in the repertoire. Tchaikovsky’s Piano Concerto No 1 has certainly achieved warhorse status—but in the expert hands of Stephen Hough it is a new creature. With the rest of this fascinating two-disc set we are in more usual RPC territory, with music which is actually not widely known. This is a complete survey of Tchaikovsky’s music for piano and orchestra and includes alternative versions of the second movement of Piano Concerto No 2 as well as some delicious extras.

Stephen Hough performed all four concertos at the BBC Proms in 2009 and was described as ‘the epitome of a “golden age” virtuoso with his balletic elegance and dazzling rhythmic reflexes’ (The Independent). Armed with this inestimably important experience, he travelled to Minnesota to record the set live with the Minnesota Orchestra under their acclaimed conductor Osmo Vänskä. The result is a set of unique importance: a winning combination of a pianist at the zenith of his artistry, a world-class orchestra and director, a pre-eminent producer and engineer, repertoire both familiar and unknown, and packaged with even more than the usual care that customers have come to expect from Hyperion.

Tchaikovsky's three piano concertos (including the third in Taneyev's completion) are here collected for release in superbly colourful performances by Peter Jablonski with the Philharmonia. Peter Maag, for some time a conductor much associated with Decca (as witness his marvellous Mozart recordings, now on Decca Eloquence, as well as some glorious Mendelssohn) was meant to conduct all the recordings, but his death, shortly after recording the first and the Grieg, meant that task had to be passed on to another Decca stalwart, Charles Dutoit. For all their virtuosic impact, it's Jablonski's poetry that is so refreshing and Maag's direction of the Philharmonia in Tchaikovsky 1 and Grieg are simply sublime - glorious singing tone from the strings and wonderful interplay with the soloist.

This disc has been out of print for some years and is now re-released by public demand – and at mid price. These live performances were highly praised for their fire and intensity and some would advocate that this is possibly one of the best 2nd Concerto recordings available.

Emil Gilels has been a leading light of the extraordinary Russian piano school. These 1959 live recordings from Turin and Lenningrad feature Tchaikovsky’s First and Second Piano Concertos