CCMusic.com

Usually, the music world commemorates the important birthdays or anniversaries of the deaths of it's celebrities. It is extremely rare for a work itself to be honoured with an anniversary celebration and presented accordingly. The present recording is one of these exceptions, because the featured work was first heard exactly one hundred years ago. On 19 December 1924, Fritz Busch conducted the premiere of his Piano Concerto Op. 31 at the Semperoper in Dresden, which had just been completed by his brother Adolf, the celebrated violinist and devoted composer. The soloist at the premiere was Rudolf Serkin, for whom his future father-in-law had written the work. At the time, critics praised the 'serious, well-constructed, melodious and at the same time rewarding composition', that now - garnished by a series of solo piano pieces - invites you to celebrate it's anniversary.