Emil von Sauer (1862-1942): Piano Concerto no.1 in E minor - III Cavatina: Larghetto amoroso

Emil von Sauer was a pupil of Liszt (1811-1886), who made probably the most successful recordings of any of the Liszt pupils. Sauer was noted for his aristocratic approach to music-making, with lashings of charm, elegance and style backed up by phenomenal technique.

This recording is a little different from most of mine. It is the slow, third movement ("Cavatina") of Sauer's first piano concerto in a modern recording. If we listen to this having listened carefully to Sauer himself playing the other tracks, we might just imagine what he himself would sound like playing it.

The rest of this concerto has already been uploaded to YouTube by others, but this movement is by far the best (a kind of fusion of the slow movements of Chopin's first concerto and Saint-Saens' organ symphony, gently spiced up with some Tchaikowsky). It is the simplest movement, formally, in the concerto, and is a a glorious 8 minutes of music by any standard. This recording features Stephen Hough at the piano, with the City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra under Lawrence Foster. The recording is widely available and strongly recommended.

Category:

Music

Tags:

• emil
• sauer
• piano
• concerto
• minor

[1950jonny]

Excellent



[baudrihaye]

When could we hear Sauer in the good spanish Radio Clasica? He played in Madrid, in the Residencia de Estudiantes, back in 1934. There is a good portrait of him by the painter Daniel Vazquez Diaz.

[ldchappell1]

is this guy Nicholas Cage's great grandfather? LOL

[fishwithoutwings]

Thanks for sharing this; I love finding out about new pieces and composers that most people don't know of! (Like Alkan, Sorabji, Moszkowski...) And piano concerti are my favourite of the instrumental genres.

[hymntonight]

oh Nice! That's some smooth stuff. And yeah, you can definitely hear the Chopin in that.

[gerardbedecarter]

Thanks for uploading this beautiful music.

[sfkcbf]

I appreciate the opportunity to enjoy the beautiful music and informative notes that you upload for us. Thank you.