Henselt - Piano Concerto Op. 16 (Lewenthal)

Adolf Henselt (1814-1889), one of the most prolific pianists of the 19th century, composed his majestic Piano Concerto in F minor during the 1840s. Although revered by the likes of Clara Schumann, Liszt, and Rachmaninov, this concerto went all but forgotten in the 20th century. Its decline can almost certainly be attributed to its incredible difficulty - Henselt’s concerto is said to be at least as difficult as the Rach 3 or Brahms 2, while not possessing their overt technical flashiness or otherworldly musical ingenuity.
Nevertheless, the case can be made that this concerto rightfully belongs alongside the entries of Schumann, Grieg, Chopin, and Liszt in terms of musical quality. The lyrical sections are gorgeous and the compositional craft is evident. For example, the Relgioso theme (06:25), which seems to come out of the blue, is just a reworking of secondary theme 1 (a leap from the fifth to the eight scale degree, with a stepwise descent back). A similar connection exists to the theme in the A section of the 2nd movement. We also have some formal innovations like plunging directly from the solo exposition to the development in the first movement without the usual second orchestral ritornello, or making section B instead of A the triumphant return after section C in the rondo finale.
Only three recordings exist of this concerto (Lewenthal, Ponti, and Hamelin). Lewenthal’s is for me the most dramatic and exciting one.

1st Mov
00:00 Ritornello 1
00:00 Primary theme 1, 00:21 Primary theme 2
00:47 Transition
01:09 Secondary theme 1, 01:44 Secondary theme 2
01:50 Transition
02:17 Solo exposition
05:02 Development
09:18 Recapitulation
11:30 Coda

2nd Mov
12:50 Section A
15:21 Section B, with transition (16:54) based on material from A
17:50 Section A’
19:06 Coda

3rd Mov
19:57 Introduction, the material will later be used as link between sections
20:23 Section A, consisting of two primary themes (20:23 and 20:49) and a transition (21:00)
21:35 Section B, consisting of a bunch of secondary themes, the transition returns (23:06)
23:50 Section A, this time without the transitory theme
24:25 Section C, consisting of a development of the primary and transitory themes
25:40 Section B, this time in F major as opposed to Ab major
26:52 Section A arranged in a Coda-fashion based on primary theme 1

Performance: Raymnod Lewenthal (1923-1988), piano London Symphony Orchestra / Charles Mackerras Rec. 1969

A short lecture by Lewenthal on the concerto and it’s similarities to Rachmaninov:    • R. Lewenthal lecturing on A. von Hens...