Interview: Radu Lupu on André Tchaikowsky Piano Concerto Op.4 

Благодарю!

Back in 1985 I had the immense privilege (as a technically reasonably good sight-reader) of accompanying Norma Fisher rehearsing this piece in preparation for her Copenhagen performance. Radu was in the audience and was very kind about my playing - he was a real charmer! I can testify its immense difficulty, especially in co-ordinating the solo and orchestral parts. As a composer myself, I find the work unremittingly over-written, over-complex and somewhat overblown, lacking real emotional contrast: the non-stop chromaticism cloying - while not denying its rich musicality, imagination and inventiveness. I suspect Andre was working through many deep emotional scars. No wonder it took him 4 years to write. It is a great tragedy that he died so young - a second piano concerto might have allowed him to write something totally contrasting.