Ahhh, the Warsaw Concerto. Arguably the greatest piano concerto - TopicsExpress

Ahhh, the Warsaw Concerto. Arguably the greatest piano concerto written by an English composer. This unabashedly romantic piece was originally written for a WWII movie, "Dangerous Moonlight" also known as "Suicide Squadron", about a fighter pilot who is also a concert pianist and returns to the stage after trauma. Or something. The powers that be originally asked Sergei Rachmaninoff to write a compact concerto for the movie. He turned them down, and they went to film-score composer Richard Addinsell, the John Williams of his day. In fact, this piece of music was probably the most-performed instrumental movie excerpts ever until "Star Wars" came along. Its many recordings sold many copies. It used to be insanely popular, then "serious pianists" avoided it (In fact, the pianist who played it in the movie and the first recording, Louis Kentner, preferred to keep a secret and cash his checks), and now it seems to be popular again. At any rate, it is a lovely thing, and although not easy, is less difficult than it sounds. I would place it on a difficulty level of around the Saint-Saens Concerto no. 2. There is also a "standard" version for solo piano that in my opinion is not as effective. The strings make the piece.