ÉDOUARD LALO (1823-1892): Piano Concerto in F Minor, Violin and Orchestra: Concerto russe, Op. 29, Romance-Sérénade, Fantaisie-Ballet, Guitare, Op. 28 (orch. Gabriel Pierné [1863-1937]).

Description: We offer this because everything here is still quite under-recorded: the Romance-Sérénade (1877), a little six-minute calling card with Sarasate in mind and the Fantaisie-Ballet, an 1885 work of nine minutes which uses motifs from Lalo’s ballet Namouna, are otherwise not available on disc. Still underappreciated is the 1879 Concerto russe, a pungent and melancholy work which employs two Russian folk-songs borrowed from Rimsky-Korsakov's "Collection of 100 Russian Folk Songs" - a worthy, yet unaccountably neglected Russian companion to the ubiquitous Symphonie espagnole and this is the only recording of the 1888 piano concerto (except for the antique Vox recording) currently on disc, a demanding piece and redolent of the great Romantic piano concertos but with the soloist integrated with the orchestra and with no cadenzas. Jean-Jacques Kantorow (violin), Pierre-Alain Volondat (piano), Tapiola Sinfonietta; Kees Bakels.