This fascinating survey of the Russian (and Polish!) piano concerto in 15 CDs includes the masterworks of Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky and Rachmaninov – beloved examples at the pinnacle of both Russian music and the piano concerto genre – along with more‐ and lesser-known yet all eminently worthy works by composers from both Imperial and Soviet Russia and those by Paderewski, Scharwenka and Moszkowski, who were born in what today is Poland.

Though the piano concerto is now inextricably linked in modern minds to the Russian repertoire, the area’s isolation meant that it would take some time for the genre to take hold there, but that it would grow into a unique, characteristic and varied expression. The accompanying essay by David Moncur leads interested readers logically along the timeline of the genre’s development in the east of Europe, exploring the generational and stylistic interconnections between fellow‐composers and musician colleagues who were teachers, mentors, supporters and dedicatees.

Recordings date from between 1964 and 2016

From a seed planted by JS Bach, nurtured by his sons, and cultivated by Mozart and Beethoven, the piano concerto became one of the defining genres of nineteenth-century musical Romanticism. Quickly blossoming in central and northern Europe, it was however slow to take root in Russia, but once it did so it was taken up with huge enthusiasm as a perfect vehicle for combining colourful orchestration with quintessentially Russian individual brilliance and passion. The piano concerto vogue lasted far longer in the Russian lands than elsewhere, its momentum lasting well into the second half of the twentieth century.

Now Brilliant Classics have gathered together some of the most notable examples of the Russian piano concerto in a 15-CD set that is ideal for both the inquisitive listener and the collector, featuring some eminently spinnable performances at a bargain price. Several of the recordings have been licensed from Naxos, some are from Brilliant's own back catalogue, and there also some vintage performances from VOX / Turnabout which will no doubt bring back memories for seasoned listeners.

The chronological range of works is wide, too, from Anton Rubinstein's Fourth Piano Concerto of 1864 (in a 1968 recording from Michael Ponti with the Philharmonia Hungarica under Othmar Maga), via Balakirev, Lyapunov, Rimsky-Korsakov, Glazunov and others of the Romantic tradition, and twentieth-century works by Medtner, Kabalevsky and Khachaturian, to concertos by Boris Tchaikovsky (1971) and Soviet apparatchik Tikhon Khrennikov (1972). Along the way, there are three Polish works (by Moszkowski, Scharwenka and Paderewski) from the days when Poland was part of the Russian Empire, as well as the essential classics of the repertoire: Tchaikovsky (the First and Second concertos in attractive performances by Derek Han), Rachmaninov (the Second and Third), Prokofiev (nos. 1, 3 & 4 in spirited accounts from Kun-Woo Paik and the Polish Radio Symphony Orchestra under Antoni Wit) and Shostakovich (the widely acclaimed recent recordings by Boris Giltburg and the Royal Liverpool Philharmonic under Vasily Petrenko).

Other highlights are the aforementioned Khrennikov Concerto (no.2) in a live 1988 performance from the young Evgeny Kissin caught at the beginning of his career, and a frankly unmissable recent account of Alexander Mosolov’s fabulously futurist Concerto no.1 of 1926-27 from Steffen Schleiermacher and the RSO Berlin under Johannes Kalitzke. Older recordings by Michael Ponti and more recent ones (mid-1990s) from Oxana Yablonskaya with the Moscow Philharmonic and Dmitry Yablonsky form the backbone of the set in performances that are never less than solid, and often highly engaging. It’s certainly nice to have the concertos by Lyapunov and Kabalevsky well represented (including two contrasting accounts – from Ponti and Shorena Tsintsabadze – of Lyapunov’s evergreen Rhapsody on Ukrainian Themes), while the evocative scoring of Medtner’s Rusalka-inspired Third Concerto is well-served by the Orchestra of Radio Luxembourg under Pierre Cao.

Rounded off with 2008 performances of Sergei Bortkiewicz’s Second and Third Piano Concertos in performances from Stefan Doniga that, in Gramophone’s opinion, made ‘the best possible case for both works’, this set is terrific value. Wide-ranging, attractively presented, and with a usefully detailed booklet note from David Moncur, it’s an ideal starting point for exploring the many and varied delights of the Russian piano concerto genre.