East-Central European & Balkan Concertos

A Discography Of CDs and LPs
Prepared by Michael Herman
Maintained by Stephen Ellis

National Discographies Home Page

Last Updated: August 2023

Introduction

Presented here is an updated and enhanced version of the previously published Discography of East Central European and Balkan Concertos-.  Stephen Ellis, who had edited several other of my published discographies, went through these two and found numerous omissions of composers and works as well as corrections to be made. Most of these deriving from his vast collection of LPs and CDs. I have incorporated all of these into the current documents. Highlights of these new versions include a much larger representation of music by composers from the former Yugoslavia and its various successor states, as well as many Polish non-commercial LPs and CDs that have been issued over the last few decades as part of the contemporary music series entitled “Warsaw Autumn.” I trust that readers will find much useful information and derive some pleasure from this endeavor. (January 2017, further updated, most recently December 2018)

The composers covered in this discography come from a very culturally diverse part of the European continent. While they are geographically contiguous, they speak 11 different national languages that are written in 3 different alphabetic scripts (Latin, Greek and Cyrillic) and their majority religions are divided among 3 faiths (Roman Catholic, various branches of Eastern Orthodoxy and Islam). Included are composers who have composed concertos and other concertante works that have been recorded born in or identified with the Czech Republic, Slovakia, Poland, Hungary, Slovenia, Croatia, Serbia, Kosovo, Macedonia, Romania, Bulgaria, Greece and Turkey. The time span covered is from the beginning of the 19th century to our own time. The composers are listed alphabetically and a composer index is placed first so the reader can immediately go via links to any particular composer.

As in the previous discographies in this series, no attempt has been made to list every release of every recording of each work. There have just been too many reissues, especially from the major labels, to make this feasible for many recordings. Instead, what are listed are the most current issue the author has located and the earliest release (if any on LP or CD) of that particular recording. In general, multi-disc compendium releases are omitted unless they contain a unique recording or the sole modern reissue of a previously released performance. Recorded is here defined as being available in a physical format that can be (or could have been) purchased or obtained from either a commercial or non-commercial source. Tape recordings, DVD’s and formats other than CD’s or LP’s are not included.

The entry for each composer consists of two sections. First there is a compact biographical paragraph that notes some essential information such as place of birth, higher musical education (including schools and prominent teachers), subsequent musical careers in addition to composing and details of other symphonies that have not been recorded. Compositional styles are not discussed in these paragraphs and readers are referred to the bibliography where various reference books that cover this subject are listed. The second part of each composer entry consists of lists of his or her symphonies that have been recorded and the various recordings of each work. A concerto is very broadly defined defined for the purposes of this discography to include any work that has the word “concerto,” “concertino” or “concertante” in its title whether or not a soloist is involved. [However, the emphasis is on orchestral concertos; composer-designated “concertos” for solo instruments or for just a few instruments are not included. Also included is any work in which an instrumental soloist is continually involved whatever its title may be. For every symphony that has them, the opus number, key signature and title are noted and the year of composition or première (if known) is stated for all. The entries of the symphonies that have had multiple recordings are listed alphabetically by the conductor’s name. Each listing of a recording consists of the following components: (1) Performers (in this order if all are involved – soloist(s), conductor, choral group, orchestra), (2) Other works on the recording. (3) Label and catalogue number and year of issue and (4) If the recording is a reissue, the original LP or CD release and its year of issue. Please note that the performers listed are for the entry work and not necessarily for the works that it is coupled with. Also, in most instances when an entry work is included in a large collection (especially if most of the other works are not related to the discography’s subject) the list of couplings is not given but replaced by the title of the collection.

The concerto arrived in the various countries of this region at different times. It came first in the areas that were part of the empires of Austria-Hungary and Prussia, later in areas dominated by the Russian Empire and last in nations that had long been under the suzerainty of the Ottoman Empire. In other words, the further west you were, the sooner your composers would adopt Western musical forms such as the concerto. Thus, concertos began to appear in the Czech and Polish lands in the 18th century and by the early 20th century had spread over the entire region.

Of all the concertos and other concertante works by composers who are covered in this Discography, only a small group have become part of what is known as the standard recorded repertoire. These include the Piano Concertos and smaller concertante works of Chopin and Liszt, Dvoŕák’s Cello Concerto in B minor and Bartók’s Concerto for Orchestra. The latter’s Piano Concertos and Violin Concerto No. 2, Dvoŕák’s Violin and Piano Concertos, Goldmark’s Violin Concerto and the Violin Concertos of Wieniawski and Szymanowski exist at a somewhat lesser level of recorded popularity. In addition, there are some other works by Dohnányi, Lutosławski and Martinů: that have had multiple appearances on recordings, but with a few exceptions, most of the other works documented herein have had exactly one recording.

Composer Listing