Paderewski: Piano Concerto

Pianist Dang Thai Son and the Philharmonia Orchestra conducted by Vladimir Ashkenazy perform Paderewski’s virtuoso Piano Concerto in A minor. Dang Thai Son completes the album with a selection of solo piano pieces, also by Padereweski.

The compositional output of Ignacy Jan Paderewski (1860–1941), although highly regarded during his lifetime, was eclipsed from the start by his unprecedented pianistic success. Abandoned relatively early, Paderewski completed his last work, the ‘Polonia’ Symphony, in 1907. With time the piece became even more overshadowed by his political activities, Paderewski ultimately emerging as one of the principal architects of Poland’s regaining of independence, in 1918. It would appear that only now, from our present-day perspective, when his pianistic and political achievements have passed into glorious history, has the turn come to appreciate Paderewski as the composer of what are often extremely valuable works.

Dang Thai Son shot to fame by winning the International Fryderyk Chopin Piano Competition in Warsaw in 1980. He has performed around the world and in 2016, he received the prestigious Prix Opus (a Canadian ‘Grammy’) in the category ‘Concert of the Year’.