Cristina Ortiz, Gothenburg Symphony Orchestra, Neeme Järvi - Stenhammer: Piano Concerto No. 2, Chitra (1992)

This is a nice performance of a beautiful and unfortunately little known piano concerto by probably Sweden's greatest composer Wilhelm Stenhammar. Stenhammar was a famous concert pianist in his day but had an odd aversion to playing his own music. He also quit composing piano music early in adulthood, turning instead to composing other music such as vocal compositions. Because of his failure to promote his piano compositions, a performance tradition was not established for them and they became largely unknown until recently. One of his better piano sonatas was finally published last year. His second piano concerto was first performed in 1908 and was one of two he composed. It is presently in print as there has been renewed interest in Stenhammar's piano compositions. His piano pieces, though not great in number, are skillfully written and are very much in the late 19th century early 20th century romantic tradition. The rest of the recording consists of Stenhammar's Chitra incidental music, which is a pleasant orchestral piece; but the real crown jewel of the recording is Cristina Ortiz's concerto performance. It is made with the traditional high recording standards of the BIS record label. Highly recommended. Eric Elliott