History
Barber began work on the concerto in March 1960. John Browning was the intended soloist from the outset and the concerto was written with his specific keyboard technique in mind. The first two movements were completed before the end of 1960 but the last movement was not completed until 15 days before the world premiere performance. According to Browning (in the liner notes for his 1991 RCA Victor recording of the Concerto with the St. Louis Symphony), the initial version of the piano part of the third movement was unplayable at performance tempo; Barber resisted reworking the piano part until Vladimir Horowitz reviewed it and also deemed it unplayable at full tempo. The work was met with great critical acclaim with Barber winning his second Pulitzer Prize in 1963 and the Music Critics Circle Award in 1964.
It was recorded by Browning with the Cleveland Orchestra conducted by George Szell in 1964. He recorded it again in 1991, with the St. Louis Symphony, conducted by Leonard Slatkin on the RCA Victor Red Seal label. Other recordings include: 1976 by the MIT Symphony Orchestra for Vox/Turnabout; a Naxos release performed by Stephen Prutsman with the Royal Scottish National Orchestra under Marin Alsop; and a performance by Tedd Joselson with the London Symphony Orchestra directed by Andrew Schenck.
Read more about this topic: Piano Concerto (Barber)
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