Ricarlo Castro: Piano Concerto Op 22 – Rodolfo Ritter

   in Piano International (Mar, 2017)
The cruelly short-lived Ricardo Castro (1864-1907) penned the first examples of a piano concerto, symphonic poem and cello concerto composed in South America, according to Sterling’s laudably extensive booklet notes. The Piano Concerto of the mid-1880s is dedicated to Reinecke. A pianist himself (he gave the Mexican premiere of the Grieg Concerto), Castro writes idiomatically for the instrument. Highly Romantic, he unleashes Lisztian roulades in the first movement, while the central nocturne-like Andante is imbued with a Chopinesque lyricism; the finale is a polonaise. This is a live performance, and there is the odd miss from Ritter, but the caveat really comes with the orchestra, which needs more depth and whose …