Xaver Scharwenka was born January 6, 1850 in Samter near the city of Posen. In 1865 his parents moved with their sons Xaver and Philipp to Berlin, where Xaver was accepted by famous Theodor Kullak at his New Academy of Music. In 1869 he succeeded as pianist and composer, when publisher Breitkopf & Härtel in Leipzig edited Xaver´s Piano - Trio op. 1, his Violin - Sonata op. 2 and his famous 5 Polish Dances op. 3, among them Mega - Hit opus 3 Nr. 1, of which copies sold where counted in the millions. It is still in print nowadays at Breitkopf & Härtel and Stainer & Bell.

In 1877 Xaver composed his Piano Concerto No.1, op. 32 - dedicated to Liszt, who accepted. It became his most successfull concert and was performed worldwide by many famous pianists. Harold Schonberg called it "a charming bravoura work in the late 19 th century rhetoric", when it was performed and recorded by Earl Wild and Boston Symphony under Erich Leinsdorf in 1969. It is still available on CD (ELAN).

In 1881 Scharwenka opened his own conservatory in Berlin and in 1891 a New York branch in then New York, 37 East, 68th Street.

1908 saw the spectacular first performance of his Piano Concerto No.4 - f-minor op. 82 - in Berlin, followed by the enormously successfull first New York appearance in November 1910 with Xaver Scharwenka as soloist and Gustav Mahler conducting the New York Philharmonia.

First world war 1914 - 1918 finished the imperial period in Germay and abroad, of which Xaver Scharwenka had been a splendid representative. And since his death in 1924 his compositions have drifted from public attention. Young Claudia Arrau still played his Variatioms op. 48 in 1919 on occasion of Xaver´s 50 th anniversary of performing in Berlin. His grave of honor still now exists in Berlin - St.Matthews cemetery.

Now, decades later, "Romantic Revival" started and has progressed to the point, where at least 10 Scharwenka CD s have been issued (f.e. Seta Tanyel now on Hyperion, Earl Wild on ELAN and Stephen Hough with Concerto Nr. 4 on Hyperion - awarded "Record of the Year" in 1996). And in 2002 there has been issued a new recording of Piano Concertos Nos. 1 and 2 with pianist Laurence Jeanningros on Centaur.

In October 2000 Maestro Neeme Järvi conducted Xaver Scharwenka`s "Olympian" Piano Concerto No.4 with Detroit SO and Philadelphia Orchestra . Pianist Alexander Markovich gave it in Detroit 4 performances ("spectacular - his tour de force not only brought down the house, it drew genuine applause from an orchestra and conductor, who clearly enjoyed the ride" - Detroit News) and Stephen Hough was the soloist of the 3 concerts in Philadelphia.

In November 2nd and 3rd 2002 Alexander Markovich has performed this concerto at Berlin Philharmonic (cond. Neeme Järvi) with tremendous success.

Further performances of this concerto have taken place in 2004 in Cologne and Goeteborg and also in 2006 in Luebeck..

D i s c o g r a p h y (Date: 12/01/2006 )

Klavierkonzert Nr.4 op. 82  Stephen Hough+City of Birmingham SO Ltg. L. Forster “Record of the Year 1996” – Hyperion GAW 21790-

Klavierkonzert Nr.1 op. 32  Marc-André Hamelin + BBC Scottish SO/M. Stern Hyperion CDA67508 (2005) Earl Wild + Boston SO Ltg. Erich Leinsdorf ELAN CD 82266 Laurence Jeanningros – Tschechisches SO Ltg. P. Freeman Centaur – B 00005

Klavierkonzert Nr. 2 op.56  Seta Tanyel + Radiophilharmonie Hannover des NDR . Ltg. Tadeusz Strugala - Hyperion CDA 67365 Laurence Jeanningros + Tschechisches SO Ltg P. Freeman Centaur – B 00005 Michael Ponti + Hamburger SO/ Richard Krapp VOX 1157102  Raymond Lewenthal + Londom SO Ltg. Eleazar deCarvalho (nur Finale) – ELAN CD 82284

Klavierkonzert Nr. 3 op.80  Seta Tanyel + Radiophilharmonie Hannover des NDR Ltg. Tadeusz Strugala – Hyperion CDA67365

Sinfonie c-moll op. 60 u. a.  Gävle SO Ltg. Christopher Fifield – Sterling CDS-1060-2

Complete chamber music  Seta Tanyel-Lydia Mordkovitch-Levon Chilingirian u.a. Hyperion CDD22046 (2 CDs)

Klaviermusik Vol. 1  Seta Tanyel - Hyperion CDH55131

Klaviermusik Vol. 2  Seta Tanyel - Hyperion CDH55132

Klaviermusik Vol. 3  Seta Tanyel - Hyperion CDH55133

Klaviermusik Vol. 4  Seta Tanyel - Hyperion CDH55134

2 Walzer op. 44  Kölner Klavierduo - Koch-Schwann 3-1575-2

„Te voglio bene assaje”op.39  Klavierduo Trenkner & Speidel – MDG 330 1134-2

Polnischer Tanz op. 3 Nr.1  Xaver Scharwenka – Naxos Historical – 8.110679

Xaver Scharwenka + Ignaz Jan Paderewski spielen Chopin - Nimbus Records – NI 8816

At Hainholz-Publisher in Goettingen has been issued the book "Xaver Scharwenka, Werkverzeichnis", ISBN 3-932622-68-5, by author Schneider-Dominco.

And now look at Xaver Scharwenka's own list of works: