Concerto for Piano and Orchestra (1961), Sonata for Piano (1952)

Overview

Alberto Ginastera            Concerto for Piano and Orchestra (1961)

Sonata for Piano (1952)

Vienna Philharmonia Orchestra

Ernst Maerzendorfer, conductor               Concerto for Piano and Orchestra (1961)

Hilde Somer, piano          Sonata for Piano (1952)

PHCD 110 presents two major keyboard works by Argentine composer Alberto Ginastera, highlighting his bold rhythmic language, dramatic contrasts, and unmistakable modernist voice. The powerful Concerto for Piano and Orchestra (1961) and the virtuosic Sonata for Piano (1952) reveal Ginastera at the height of his creative intensity, blending percussive brilliance with expressive depth. Performed by pianist Hilde Somer with the Vienna Philharmonia Orchestra under Ernst Maerzendorfer, this Phoenix USA edition restores two landmark mid‑century works with clarity and archival precision.

Ginastera’s “Concerto for Piano and Orchestra” was written in early 1961 on commission from the Koussevitzky Music Foundation and is dedicated to the memory of Serge and Natalie Koussevitzky. When the Piano Concerto had its world premier during the Second Inter-American Music Festival at Washington, D.C. on April 22, 1961, Irving Lowen wrote glowingly of the Argentine and his work in the usually austere scholarly journal “The Musical Quarterly”: “Good as the Festival was, there was one figure who towered head and shoulders above his colleagues-Alberto Ginastera.”

His “Sonata for Piano” was composed in 1952 for the Pittsburg Contemporary Music Festival on commission from the Carnegie Institute and the Pennsylvania College for Women. Johanna Harris, pianist-wife of the eminent American composer Roy Harris, premiered the Ginastera Sonata at the Pittsburg Festival on November 29, 1952.

Composer: Alberto Ginastera
Pianist: Hilde Somer
Conductor: Ernst Maerzendorfer
Orchestra: Vienna Philharmonia Orchestra
Catalog Number: PHCD 110

This Phoenix USA edition is sourced from archival materials and restored to highlight the power, clarity, and rhythmic intensity of Ginastera’s writing.