Franz Danzi: Piano Concerto in E flat Major, Op 4, Nareh Arghamanyan (piano)

Franz Danzi - Piano Concerto in E-flat Major Op. 4, P 229, Nareh Arghamanyan (piano), Munich Chamber Orchestra, Howard Griffiths (conductor)
I. Allegro – 0:00
II. Andante moderato – 12:36
III. Allegretto – 19:16
Franz Ignaz Danzi (June 15, 1763 – April 13, 1826) was a German cellist, composer and conductor. Danzi lived at a significant time in the history of European concert music. His career, spanning the transition from the late Classical to the early Romantic styles, coincided with the origin of much of the music that lives in our concert halls and is familiar to contemporary classical-music audiences. Born in Schwetzingen, Franz Danzi worked in Mannheim, Munich, Stuttgart and Karlsruhe, where he died. A staunch friend of Weber, he helped mount some of his operas and was one of the first to conduct opera from a rostrum rather than directing from the keyboard, as was still the custom in the early nineteenth century.
“Franz Danzi was born into a family of Italian musicians. His father, Innocenz Danzi, was a virtuoso cellist and composer, the best-paid musician of the orchestra of the Mannheim elector prince. Franz received his initial musical education from his father and he made such progress that he was appointed court cellist at fifteen.
Danzi created significant works in almost every instrumental and vocal genre. He was a successful artist in his capacity as a composer, a conductor (he was apparently among the first to use a baton) and as a cellist. His biographers invariably highlight his friendship with Weber, which started in Stuttgart in 1807. Danzi did play a decisive role in the life of his friend, 23 years his junior.
For a better understanding of Danzi, here are a few quotations by Danzi's friends and first biographers, F. J. Lipowsky and Fr. Rochlitz. "Even as a youth of twelve or thirteen he was composing all sorts of things, which appealed to his father and the small circle of people who had the opportunity to hear them. These were songs and pieces for cello." As regards Danzi's education, they wrote, "Throughout his life, whose solid foundations he had laid very early, he had a thorough understanding of numerous disciplines and worldly matters not necessarily connected to music, and everything that he ever learnt was available to him, classified and in context. Consequently, he spoke well and wrote well; he was able to eloquently express his intentions and actions; as a conversation partner he was initiatory and captivating; his behaviour was polite and likeable, making a good impression on everyone.” Contemporary papers willingly published the writings of this highly cultivated man, and praised his "mature and rational works that reflected his erudition and mentality - profoundly philosophical and rooted in his knowledge of the Classics." (Note by the cellist Balázs Máté)