Litolff reviews

Leonore Piano Trio (Hyperion)

One could judge Romantic piano concertos much as one would wine. The genre is quite narrowly defined, at least as represented by this admirable series, but with a number of variables. Instead of bouquet, fruit, tannin and finish, one might consider glitter, energy, hummability and weepiness. It is easy to score highly on the first two – that Litolff does so is perhaps obvious to those who have come across the effervescent scherzo from the Fourth Concerto as an encore. Hummability and weepiness contribute to what has been called the ‘tingle factor’, which is much more elusive.

The London-born but itinerant piano virtuoso Henry Litolff, a larger-than-life character who was thrice married, escaped from a debtors’ prison and found himself a political fugitive, was a man of irrepressible brilliance, and it shows in his music. These concertos symphoniques – the adjective signals a certain ambition which Litolff without doubt possessed in spades – present two sides of the man. No. 3 was intended as a gesture of thanks to the Dutch for providing him with his freedom after his notorious escape.