Edouard Lalo - Symphony in G minor; Piano Concerto in F minor

Edouard LALO (1823-1892) 

Symphony in G minor

Piano Concerto in F minor

Romance-Sérénade for violin and orchestra

Scherzo in D minor

David Gross (piano)

Juri Toschmakov (violin)

Frankfurt Brandenburg State Orchestra

Nikos Athinaos

Lalo is a sadly underrated composer, who maintained a consistently high level of excellence in his compositions. This is the case with all the works on this CD, especially the Piano Concerto.

Compared to the Symphonie Espagnole and his Cello Concerto, the Piano Concerto is virtually unknown (and, unfortunately, even the Symphonie Espagnole and Cello Concerto are heard more and more rarely live in concert halls). The interesting fact, however, is that the Berlioz/Lisztian recurring theme was used for the grandiose "desert expanse" theme in the movie Lawrence of Arabia - in a hugely expanded form - by Jarre, who won an Oscar for the music. If you expect the same sonic tsunamis found in the movie, you will be disappointed by the Piano Concerto. Lalo uses the theme much more discreetly and varies it in very refined ways throughout the Concerto, often quietly. At the same time, this is my only peeve with this album. The soloist and orchestra do not exploit the broader expanses of the piece, giving it a lesser impact than it has the potential to have. Given that it's the only version available (to my knowledge), I am still happy I bought the CD so I could listen to what is doubtlessly one of Lalo's best concerti.