JOSEF LABOR (1842-1924) : Piano Concertos for the left Hand (Wittgenstein Concertos). World Premiere Recording. Konzertstück I (1915) for piano left hand and orchestra. Konzertstück II (1917) for piano left hand and orchestra. Konzertstück III (1923) for piano left hand and orchestra. OLIVER TRIENDL, piano Deutsche Staatsphilharmonie Rheinland-Pfalz, EUGENE TZIGANE, conductor.

Description: Besides the well-known Left Hand Piano Concertos by Korngold, Prokofiev, Ravel and others, this very first Concerto of Josef Labor marks the beginning of this genre in 1915. One-Handed pianist Paul Wittgenstein ordered it already during his captivity in Russia where he lost his right arm but was determined to press forward with his pianistic career. Labor was part of Johannes Brahms’s close circle of friends. At the age of three, he lost his sight due to smallpox. For him composition was a luxury, insofar as he had to rely on the help of a scribe to commit the work to paper. Labor’s music is very skillfully composed, always sensuous, and first and foremost melodious; it does not require a too complete concentration on itself. These World Premiere Recordings marks an highlight of Capriccio's Labor-Edition which focused already since years on this sensitive music of an mostly forgotten composer.