Tedd Joselson: Tedd Joselson's Companionship of Concertos
Signum Classics

New performances of the Grieg Piano Concerto and Rachmaninov's Second Piano Concerto might be cause for more or less excitement depending on the listener's familiarity with the many other recordings available. What is less a matter of debate, however, is the value of the release when it features Tedd Joselson at the keyboard. Belgian-born to an American father and Belgian mother, he famously auditioned for Eugene Ormandy, then music director for the Philadelphia Orchestra, in 1973 and made such a splash the conductor told him he could choose the material and the orchestra would follow. Two years later, Joselson gave his debut piano recital at Lincoln Center and thereafter distinguished himself for his broad command of repertoire and numerous awards and Grammy nominations. He retired from public performance in 1999, whereupon he directed his energies into preparing young pianists for music careers whilst enjoying life in Singapore.

The recording's genesis can be traced to early 2017 when the co-creative directors of ALAN group of Projects, Susan Lim and Christina Teenz Tan, approached the pianist with a project proposal, specifically an orchestral piece they'd deemed the Fantasy of Companionship but which eventually assumed the title Lim Fantasy of Companionship for Piano and Orchestra. After he agreed to sign on as solo pianist for the piece, the project expanded to include two other works, the Grieg and Rachmaninov, with all three concertos eventually recorded at Abbey Road Studios in November 2019 and with conductor Arthur Fagen leading the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra (Grieg) and the Philharmonia Orchestra (Rachmaninov); a separate recording documents the Lim Fantasy, it likewise conducted by Fagen but with the London Symphony Orchestra.

Grieg's and Rachmaninov's concertos, which premiered in 1869 and1901 respectively, are of comparable length and similar structure, and cadenzas appear in both. At album's start, Grieg's “Allegro molto moderato” couples the pianist and orchestra magnificently, and the clarity of the production allows the details of their sonorities to come through vividly. Joselson voices the themes with sensitivity and treats tempo with well-considered elasticity, something Fagen does as adroitly in his direction of the orchestra. There's lyricism but playfulness too, mood transitions transpire fluidly, and the cadenza is delivered with all of the majesty and technical command one would expect from the pianist. The “Adagio” is a thing of regal beauty, something amplified all the more by the deliciously slow tempo, the velvety strings, and Joselson's elegant voicings. The “Allegro moderato molto e marcato” is treated to a breezy, light-footed treatment that isn't without lyrical moments, a lovely passage featuring flute one illustration and the pianist's delicate playing another. The middle section, where the instruments play so softly they verge on silent, is particularly lovely.

Establishing its romantic identity quickly, Rachmaninov's work opens with a dramatic “Moderato” and Joselson's playing rippling across dense waves of strings and horns. In contrast to Grieg's concerto, the cadenza in Rachmaninov's emerges midway through its middle movement, with a partnered exploration undertaken with circumspection by soloist and orchestra the focus of the first. All concerned imbue the central “Adagio sostenuto” with tenderness and then elevate the “Allegro scherzando” with exuberance. For the popular music historian, the concerto is memorable for an additional reason, the connection its second and third movements have, in turn, to Eric Carmen's 1975 hit “All by Myself” and “Full Moon and Empty Arms,” a 1945 song by Buddy Kaye and Ted Mossman made popular by Frank Sinatra in a well-known crooning version. The melodies Rachmaninov wrote for his work are so directly referenced in the songs' vocal parts, it's almost impossible to listen to the concertos without hearing them in the background (e.g., Carmen's “When I was young, I never needed anyone …”).

December 2021