In memory of a great musician -- 30.05.1952 - 06.11.2016 Zoltan Kocsis playing Mozart's PC 17 with the MAV SO under Gabor Takacs-Nagy, live in Budapest on 28 April 2016.
This musicianship is phenomenal, both from Kocsis and from the conductor, Gábor Takács-Nagy, who is equally unforgettable here. And the orchestra of the Hungarian State Railroad demonstrates that it has the finesse and empathy and knowledge matching any great orchestra of much more inflated reputation. Musicianship that can happen in few places of the world today, and Hungary is one of the few...
Zoltán Kocsis was not just a great pianist, but also a great musician. He was one of very few pianists of the new generation who knew that playing basso continuo during the tuttis is how Mozart intended his piano concertos to be performed (as did also Haydn and Beethoven). That is why the tuttis sound so satisfying when performed with basso continuo. Besides, the concept of the orchestra and soloist competing with each other for exclusive supremacy exists only in the minds of uninformed musicians misled by uninformed scholars. The soloist in classical concertos was to perform a dual function: that of accompanist (when the orchestra was assigned the thematic materials at the beginning of the concerto) and that of soloist (when the pianist emerged out of the orchestral mass by re-stating -- or even elaborating -- upon the themes presented by the orchestra). In other words, orchestra and soloist were PARTNERS INTEGRATED INTO ONE SINGLE SOUND-COMPLEX out of which they emerged alternately as leaders of the ensemble. In the later classical concertos, the orchestra and the soloist did for brief periods of time become adversaries, as in the first movement of Beethoven's 5th Piano Concerto (the "Emperor" -- see the C-flat Major confrontation = the flattened sixth scale degree of E-flat Major at m. 304 -- which returns in the second movement as the C-flat major Adagio notated for easier reading in the enharmonic key of B major. The "Emperor" Concerto is the only piano concerto in music history in which a great composer (Beethoven) took the trouble to notate precisely how the soloist was to perform the basso continuo function in both long and short tuttis. The reason for this sudden need to notate the exact details of basso continuo had to do with Beethoven's deafness - he himself could no longer perform the world premiere performance of his new piano concerto, hence he had to delegate this task to a performer whom he could not instruct in any other manner than with detailed notation of the basso continuo function. Another instance of the orchestra and the soloist opposing each other as two separate bodies of sound is the second movement of Beethoven's 4th piano concerto in which orchestra and soloist begin as adversaries, but gradually the orchestra retreats, leaving the center stage to the soloist. In these rare cases of the classical concerto repertoire, the two protagonists become two opposing bodies of sound. But such exceptions prove the rule - that orchestra and soloist are NOT TWO OPPOSING BODIES OF SOUND but partners in a SINGLE SOUND-COMPLEX. Tibor Szász
Wow. Nem tudtam, hogy Beethoven számozott basszust írt a kézirataiba - erről az apróságról valahogy az "urtext" kiadások megfeledkeztek. Czerny is később azt írja, már az 1830-as években, hogy "jobb, ha a szólista nem játszik a zenekarral együtt". Holtig tanul az ember...
Not only wonderful piano playing but also a very sensitive conductor. I am discovering an important work which is seldom played. Mozart is always full of surprises.
Köszönöm, hogy legmagasabb szintű zenei tudásoddal, ritka örömökben részesítettél...! Ezek igazi, Istennek tetsző érzések..., megfogalmazhatatlanok. R I P.
The first movement is so uniquely witty urbane. A Royal Diadem with pearls and blue ribbons. I think I could dance a jazzy jig throughout and back again! You know? PWG
I am listening to this great music played by a great artist! I never heard such a sad, melancholic music C major as the second movement is. Farewell to a genious.
Wow.... Thank you very much... so beautiful played.....
7 лет назад
Just a small remark, I attanded this concert, sadly my last visit to the concert of the all-time greatest genius Kocsis. That time with my strongest hopes and wishes to see him in a better health. Ah, the remark is that the original program for this concert was Rachmaninoff 2nd piano concert, changed due to (i guess) his health. But a brillant performance was it with the pain later attached to finding this here. Thanks for the sharing!
