One of the richest corners of the repertoire (and one of the most popular) in which a solo piano is pitted against the orchestra – with invariably thrilling results. Mozart may have lifted the piano concerto into the modern age, but in the hands of the great Romantic masters it became a form for expression of colossal variety. Here are 10 of the greatest of all piano concertos.
Listen as you read ...
Enjoy these recordings in our Top 10 Piano Concertos playlist on Apple Music, Spotify or Qobuz, or use the player below:
Mozart Piano Concerto No 27
Piotr Anderszewski pf Chamber Orchestra of Europe
'Anderszewski’s piano is right there in the middle of it, supporting, chattering away in passagework, never once hogging the spotlight at the expense of his first-desk soloists, and pulling gently against the pulse to coax maximum character from the music without compromising its shapely contours. ...' Read review
Read more on Mozart and discover the essential recordings
Beethoven Piano Concerto No 5
Paul Lewis pf BBC Symphony Orchestra / Jiří Bělohlávek
'And so, all in all, these records take their place among the finest Beethoven piano concerto performances so that even when you recall beloved issues by Wilhelm Kempff, Emil Gilels, Radu Lupu and Murray Perahia (to name but four), Lewis ensures that you return refreshed and with a renewed sense of Beethoven’s range and beauty...' Read review
Read more on Beethoven and discover the essential recordings
Brahms Piano Concerto No 1
Nelson Freire pf Gewandhaus Orchestra / Riccardo Chailly
'This is the Brahms piano concerto set we’ve been waiting for. Nelson Freire and Riccardo Chailly offer interpretations that triumphantly fuse immediacy and insight, power and lyricism, and incandescent virtuosity that leaves few details unturned, yet always with the big picture in clear sight...' Read review
Read more on Brahms and discover the essential recordings
Schumann Piano Concerto
Leif Ove Andsnes pf BPO / Mariss Jansons
'Andsnes is firmly supported by Jansons and the Berlin Philharmonic, with playing not just refined but dramatic too in fiercely exciting tuttis. Schumann’s cello melodies are gloriously warm, with textures in both works admirably clear, and Andsnes fully responds to Schumann’s espressivo and ritardando requests. ...' Read review
Read more on Schumann and discover the essential recordings
Grieg Piano Concerto
Jean-Efflam Bavouzet pf Bergen Philharmonic Orchestra / Edward Gardner
'Bavouzet bewitches in the slow movement, not just in the clarity of his lines but also in the sense of ebb and flow (soloists must love Gardner for his empathetic support); and while no one can spin a slow melody quite like Lipatti, Bavouzet is whirlingly virtuoso in the finale...' Read review
Read more on Grieg and discover the essential recordings
Tchaikovsky Piano Concerto No 1
Martha Argerich (pf) BPO / Claudio Abbado
'Argerich has never sounded on better terms with the piano, more virtuoso yet engagingly human. Lyrical and insinuating, to a degree her performance seems to be made of the tumultuous elements themselves, of fire and ice, rain and sunshine...' Read review
Read more on Tchaikovsky and discover the essential recordings
Prokofiev Piano Concerto No 3
Martha Argerich (pf) BPO / Claudio Abbado
'There have been others to match the bustle and brilliance of Argerich's Prokofiev, her coloristic range, her drive, her flashiness, her straining at the leash. But I'm not sure I could name anyone who has so satisfyingly combined all those qualities, who has given us such a rocket-launched recapitulation in the first movement, such circus-routine vividness in the following variations (Prokofiev grew up in a Russia where 'circusization of the arts' was one of the 'in' concepts), or such monstrous, hyperbolic fairy-tale imagery in the finale, and all done with the most engaging reckless abandon...' Read review
Read more on Prokofiev and discover the essential recordings
Ravel Piano Concerto
Krystian Zimerman (pf) Cleveland Orchestra / Pierre Boulez
'Zimerman’s pianism is self-recommending. His trills in the first movement of the G major Concerto are to die for, his passagework in the finale crystal-clear, never hectic, always stylish. For their part Boulez and the Clevelanders are immaculate and responsive; they relish Ravel’s neon-lit artificiality and moments of deliberate gaudiness...' Read review
Read more on Ravel and discover the essential recordings
Bartók Piano Concerto No 2
Jean-Efflam Bavouzet (pf) BBC PO / Gianandrea Noseda
'The Second Concerto gives Anda, Kocsis, Schiff, Donohoe and Andsnes a fair run for their money, with plenty of air freshening the pages of the first movement, where in the wrong hands the warring combination of brass, piano and percussion can overwhelm in quite the wrong way. Not here though...' Read review
Read more on Bartók and discover the essential recordings
Piano Concerto No 2
Alexandre Tharaud pf Royal Liverpool Philharmonic Orchestra / Alexander Vedernikov
'The clarinet solo in the Adagio is as tender and vulnerable as you’ll ever hear (with or without its association with Brief Encounter, this one is particularly poignant), and so to the finale, notable for the soloist’s exemplary clarity and the orchestra’s alternately lusty and sensitive playing. On the last page, Tharaud and Vedernikov decide to share the battle honours and storm home as equal partners to thrilling effect...' Read the review
Read more on Rachmaninov and discover the essential recordings
For more information about subscribing to Gramophone, the world's leading classical music magazine, visit: gramophone.co.uk/subscribe
