*16.12.1932 Moscow
"The piano concerto was always my field of experimentation."
“I have written music for the piano throughout my entire creative life.”
For Rodion Shchedrin (Родион Щедрин) as a pianist, the piano has always been a particularly important instrument for his own music. He has composed countless piano works and a total of 6 piano concertos. Shchedrin embodies an extraordinarily free, personal style - a connection between Russian tradition and many facets of modernity. Shchedrin's music escapes all categories with charm and irony, and with its playful and experimental handling of traditions.
Here are the PIANOVERSAL listening tips with piano music by Rodion Shchedrin.
PIANOVERSAL listening tips: Rodion Schchedrin
Piano Concerto no. 1 (1954; reorch. 1974)
youtube_shchedrin_pianococerto1
Rodion Shchedrin plays his piano concerto No. 1
State Academic SO; Rodion Shchedrin, piano: Evgeny Svetlanov, dir; live in Moscow in 1975
Родион Щедрин - Концерт №1 для фортепиано с оркестром - Евгений Светланов - Государственный академический симфонический оркестр России
Shchedrin performs his "Basso ostinato" of his "Two polyphonic pieces" (1961) live in a 1964 Sowiet TV show. This is an extraordinary historic setting!
youtiube_shchedrin_basso_ostinato_shchedrin
Родион Щедрин - Бассо Остинато
Hommage à Chopin for 4 pianos (1983)
youtube_shchedrin_hommage_a_chopin
The starting point of Shchedrin's composition is the tune from Chopin's Prelude in C minor No. 28 Op.20. performed by Shchedrin, Nicolas Economou, Paul Gulda and Chick Corea. (German Premiere)
Piano Concerto n.3 "Variazioni e Tema" (1973)
youtube_shchedrin_pianoconcerto3
Rodion Shchedrin, pianoforte; USSR Symphony Orchestra, dir. Evgeni Svetlanov
Piano Concerto no. 4 "Sharp Keys" (1989)
youtube_shchedrin_pianoconcerto4
Olli Mustonen, piano, Symphonic Orchestra of the Marinsky Theater, dir. Valery Gergiev, live in Moscow in 2013.
Олли Мустонен - Родион Щедрин - Концерт №4 для фортепиано с оркестром - Валерий Гергиев - Симфонический оркестр Мариинского театра
Stalin Cocktail per clavicembalo e orchestra d'archi (1992)
youtube_schchedrin_stalincocktail
Catherine Perrin, clavicembalo; I Musici de Montréal; Yuli Turovsky, director
Shchedrin as a pianist: a commemorative concert for his famous piano teacher Yakov Flier (1912-1977)
youtube_shchedrin_pianist
Rodion Shchedrin plays Chopin Mazurka op 68, 4 and Prelude no 7
A lovely portrait of Rodion Shchedrin (mostly about his Concerto cantabile) - 1999 (mostly in Russian)
youtube_shchedrin_portrait
A film by Georges Gachot.
24 Preludes and Fugues (1963/1970) Volume 1
youtube_shchedrin_preludes_fugues
Murray McLachlan, piano
Browse the PIANOVERSALRegister !
Rodion Shchedrin: composer of the week No. 22 / August 2018