Henselt - Piano Concerto Op. 16 (Lewenthal)

Adolf Henselt (1814-1889), one of the most prolific pianists of the 19th century, composed his majestic Piano Concerto in F minor during the 1840s. Although revered by the likes of Clara Schumann, Liszt, and Rachmaninov, this concerto went all but forgotten in the 20th century. Its decline can almost certainly be attributed to its incredible difficulty - Henselt’s concerto is said to be at least as difficult as the Rach 3 or Brahms 2, while not possessing their overt technical flashiness or otherworldly musical ingenuity. Nevertheless, the case can be made that this concerto rightfully belongs alongside the entries of Schumann, Grieg, Chopin, and Liszt in terms of musical quality. The lyrical sections are gorgeous and the compositional craft is evident. For example, the Relgioso theme (06:25), which seems to come out of the blue, is just a reworking of secondary theme 1 (a leap from the fifth to the eight scale degree, with a stepwise descent back). A similar connection exists to the theme in the A section