I have always thought the arguments for rewriting the orchestral scores of the two Chopin concertos to be very tenuous indeed. Chopin's energies were almost entirely devoted to the piano and I see it as quite appropriate that the orchestra should provide little more than a supporting role in these primarily virtuoso works.
However, I must avoid the implication that I see Tausig and Cortot as being equally blameworthy in their efforts presented here. Whereas the Frenchman, an incomparable Chopin player, was something of a scholar, Tausig set about his self-appointed task with a degree of arrogance and insensitivity that is dumbfounding. Presumably the initial intention was to 'improve' only the orchestral score of the First Concerto, but he was unable to resist the temptation to 'beef out' the piano part as well. What is really regrettable is that in the few instances where he has altered the piano passages he has inserted something that is ugly and vulgar. It is at the close of the finale that he seems to lose his reason: the broken-octave figurations that are substituted are a stunt that is quite foreign to Chopin's style. Rosenthal retained a modest portion of this rewriting in his own discs of the piece ((CD) GEMMCD 9339, 4/89). With regard to the orchestral part, Tausig's Wagnerisms are intrusive and his rearrangement of the material in the introduction of the first movement achieves nothing, other than throwing the listener off balance. Very few great pianists ever took up this version in its entirety and by the end of the last century it had become quite obsolete.
Setrak plays cleanly and at times with elegance, but he plods through the development section of the first movement in a lamentable way and much of the exuberance of the finale is lost. The F minor Concerto fares rather better, but still there is an adherence to a middle-ground level of dynamics, and so this too drags. The problem with Setrak is that he does not have much of his own to say about the music, and in realizing this he plays certain phrases with consciously 'expressive' rubatos, which tend to sound stilted.
Thankfully, Cortot resisted the temptation to make any important alterations to the piano part. In bar 342, just before the end of the first movement, he allows the pianist briefly to restate the opening motif of the concerto and this is an effective touch. In the slow movement (bar 77) there is a dreadful Cortotism in the very low B flat pedal point—an octave lower than written. Seven bars further on a pleasant cello part is added, so as to provide a duet episode with the pianist. Setrak takes a lively approach to the finale, but his technique is a bit uneven and he struggles to maintain the correct tempo towards the end. As in Messager's rescoring of the work, there are some bizarre details from the orchestra in the F major section, which is heralded by the horn-call.
The situation with the Allegro de concert is more complicated. Published as a piano solo in 1841, it was definitely intended as the first movement of a projected Third Piano Concerto. The solo and orchestral parts are generally easy to define. Three versions with orchestra exist: the first was made by Jean-Louis Nicode (1853-1919), the second by Andre Messager and the third by the Polish cellist-composer Kazimierz Wilkomirski (this last was recorded by Michael Ponti on Turnabout—nla).
The Wilkomirski version is perhaps the most faithful to the original work. Nicode's, however, is highly accomplished, although I think that he has misjudged the place where the piano should make its first entry—he brings it in at the beginning of bar 84, which I consider should be played by the horns and other wind instruments, with the piano entering on the high F natural just after this. Nicode's main addition to the score, aside from providing the orchestral part, is to put in a proper development section, followed by an orchestral tutti, before the recapitulation. He maintains stylistic credibility throughout, although the scoring is unambitious when soloist and orchestra are playing together. Setrak is at his best here in the more delicate passages.
The Tausig Ungarische Zigeunerweisen, which was recorded in its original version on an Ampico piano roll by Josef Lhevinne (last available on Argo), unfortunately gains absolutely nothing through the scoring presented here. The whole thing comes off as an inconsequential bit of frippery. The orchestral part is very tame and themes are unmemorable. Perhaps of interest to the enthusiast, I can't say that they provided me with much pleasure, although the Allegro de concert version is certainly worth hearing.
The Wieniawski Piano Concerto, offered with the Chopin E minor, was written by Joseph, the pianist brother of the violinist, Henryk. Dating from c. 1859, it is reminiscent of works in the same idiom by Moszkowski and Scharwenka, but with less memorable thematic material. The slow movement is especially vapid. I suppose that the finale, with its 'Polish' character, is quite fun, but taken as a whole the piece is not one that I wish to hear again. Setrak plays it with enthusiasm and an excellently clean bravura style. Recorded sound is acceptable on these two CDs, although the playing under Rajski is variable in quality.'