This two-disc set makes an excellent companion to CPO’s fine set of Milhaud symphonies, also conducted (very well, as here) by Alun Francis. If anything, the music for piano and orchestra is even more appealing. For some reason, bitonality works even better with two competing partners, both of which have the ability to make a full mass of harmony on their own. Or maybe Milhaud simply enjoyed this combination. Whatever the reason, there isn’t a dull moment here, from the popular Carnaval d’Aix, to the magical Ballade, to the extremely colorful sonorities of the Fifth Concerto.
Pianist Michael Korstick takes all of this music in stride. It ranges from the fairly easy pieces written for Milhaud’s own use, to the extremely complex and difficult. All of the music requires plenty of character, a certain insouciant boldness, and no mean degree of poetic sensibility in the slow movements. The main reason we never hear this music probably stems from the fact that most of these concertos are quite short–around 20 minutes or less. This makes them difficult to program in concert, though Ravel’s Left Hand Concerto lasts about the same time (but then it’s a tour-de-force; Prokofiev’s very brief First Concerto doesn’t get much play either).
In any event, none of these considerations matters on disc, and I can imagine that many listeners will welcome the music’s brevity as much as its vitality and pungent lyricism. Some of these concertos have been recorded previously, but never with such authority (or ready availability) as to challenge the supremacy of this set. The engineering also is very good, letting the music speak with the clarity and brightness that it needs, but without undue hardness. Music like this is a tonic. A little may go a long way, but Milhaud is one of the very few composers who understands that and writes accordingly. Highly recommended.
