CARL LOEWE (1796-1869): Piano Concerto No. 2 in A, FRÉDÉRIC CHOPIN (1810-1849): Piano Concerto No. 2 in F Minor, Op. 21.

Description: Pentatone was unavailable to us when this came out seven years ago so we offer it now to those of you who may have missed it. These concertos were written a year apart (Loewe's in 1831) and they are very similar in style: the orchestra opens each movement with a cursory statement of the main theme and then gets out of the way while the pianist either dazzles with virtuosity in the outer movements or muses lyrically in the central ones (Loewe's slow movement is marked Espaniola (Andante grazioso)). And yes, Loewe was the soloist in his concertos (some of his piano sonatas are available on cpo), so the Chopin comparison continues. Note: the Loewe was once available on a Koch Schwann recording from 1994. Mari Kodama (piano), Russian National Orchestra; Kent Nagano. 2003 release.