Addinsell (arr. Grainger) 'Warsaw Concerto' played by Peter Noke and Julian Hellaby

Originally composed for the 1941 film 'Dangerous Moonlight', this piece of pseudo Rachmaninov by Richard Addinsell (1904-77) has subsequently acquired independence and huge popularity. Percy Grainger (1882-1961)made his two-piano arrangement of the 'Warsaw Concerto' in 1946.

This performance was given at The Flavel, Dartmouth in August 2011

Category:

Music

Tags:

• Warsaw Concerto
• Richard Addinsell
• Percy Grainger
• Peter Noke
• Julian Hellaby
• The Flavel
• paulprocopolis

[pianopera]

"Pseudo-Rachmaninoff" is a good description indeed for Richard Sellin'Ad's rather doughy but effective and appealing style... I've never seen the original movie but I know that the original soundrack was played by no other than... Louis Kentner!

You both give it a fine and energetic rendering! The recorded sound is maybe not ideal (a little harsh)... are those Steinways?

[paulprocopolis]

@pianopera That's true but Kentner's name is witheld from the film's credits because he was developing his English career at the time. Such was the snobbery in those days that he felt that having his name associated with film music would damage his prospects! The pianos were both Yamaha - and as is all too plain to see, one of them was hired in specially for the occasion. It was supposed to match the other but was in fact smaller!

[pianopera]

@paulprocopolis I've heard that he decided himself to stay anonymous on that Columbia disc of the W.C. (a true Best-addin-Seller), BUT he didn't receive any royalties from the sales too!

Of course Kentner later gave performances of many (more serious?) British composers like Tippet, Walton, Bax, Ireland, Rawsthorne etc.

[paulprocopolis]

@pianopera That's interesting - I expect if he'd opted to take royalties he might have been a seriously rich man! But you're right, he became a very respected figure in British music despite his Hungarian (or rather Silesian) roots.

[priscillayuen]

Bravo!!!



[berlinzerberus]

I am having some difficulty with the orchestral arrangement for the piano especially when both pianos are playing in the same register. It doubles the sound in such a rough and overpowering way so that you cannot realize what is the solo part and what the orchestra accompaniment. And the most important thing is that the timbre of the solo piano and the orchestra don´t just harmonize marvellously.

Sometimes it sounds like a huge fun-fair organ.

I don´t like the sound for esthetic reasons!