Chopin Piano Concerto No. 2 in f minor, Op. 21 (Zimerman)

Chopin’s second piano concerto is more conventional than his first. The opening Maestoso movement of the piece is modeled on the concertos of Mozart’s pupil, Hummel. The central Larghetto is similarly inspired by the Piano Concerto in G minor composed in 1820 by Ignaz Moscheles, but the closing Allegro vivace is original, a stylized Polish folk song. Within the movements, all the standard concerto principles are obeyed: an orchestra exposition of the main themes before a piano exposition of the same material, the usual contrast between the tonic minor and the relative major for the principal and subordinate themes, a lyrical slow movement in the relative minor, and a rondo-form finale in the tonic major. Despite its conventional structure, Chopin’s piano writing is idiomatic and highly personal – the lyrical melodies and their ornamentations could have been composed by no one else. Chopin’s piano concertos are often criticized for orchestral writing that is at best competent. This, however, is less a