Tchaikovsky - PIANO CONCERTO No.1 - Alexis Weissenberg & Herbert von Karajan, Berliner Philharmoniker, Philharmonie Berlin
柴科夫斯基一共写了三首钢琴协奏曲，其中《降b小调 第一号》 是唯一被演奏得最多的一首，作品中略含俄国味的主题， 以及充满斯拉夫式粗线条和色彩的管弦乐法，正是这首乐曲的魅力所在， 这首钢琴协奏曲是第一流的钢琴家们竞相演奏的曲目。本曲作于1874年，于1875年十月在美国波士顿首演。
作品完成后，并未按照一般的习惯立刻在自己的国家初演，是因为当时莫斯科音乐学院的校长，柴科夫斯基的友人尼古拉·鲁宾斯坦 （Nikolay Rubinstein， 1835 － 1881，俄罗斯著名钢琴家安东·鲁宾斯坦的弟弟）斥责此作品华而不实，无独创性，不适于用钢琴演奏。柴科夫斯基对此感到很屈辱，但他对这首乐曲有很大的信心，于是把乐谱寄给法国钢琴家汉斯·封·彪罗（Hans von Bulw，1830－1894）,由这位钢琴家旅美演出时在波士顿首演，获得巨大的成功。十一个月后，才在俄罗斯上演，同样也获得了成功。后来，尼古拉·鲁宾斯坦郑重地向柴科夫斯基谢罪，从此之后他经常把这首乐曲加在他的演奏会曲目里，于是二人和好如初。1889年，柴科夫斯基将这首乐曲略加修订，成为现行的乐谱。
作品共分三个乐章：
第一乐章 极为庄严而不太快的快板，降b小调，3/4拍。本乐章是全曲中最为著名的乐章。作品以四支圆号的引子为开始，随后展现的是极其雄壮和辉煌的主题（片段1），这个激动人心的主题甚至比整部钢琴协奏曲还要著名，是每年柴科夫斯基音乐节的开场曲，也经常被大量的影视作品所引用，为广大听众所熟知。
第二乐章（朴实的小行板，片段2）和第三乐章（热情的快板，片段3和片段4）也都十分出色。 这部作品是柴科夫斯基的代表作之一。 
Alexis Weissenberg (born July 26, 1929) is a Bulgarian -born French pianist .
He was born into a Jewish family in Sofia and had piano lessons from the age of three with Pancho Vladigerov . He gave his first public performance at the age of eight. After escaping to Israel in 1945, where he studied with Leo Kestenberg, he went to the Juilliard School in 1946 to study with Olga Samaroff . He also consulted Artur Schnabel and Wanda Landowska . In 1947 he made his New York debut with the Philadelphia Orchestra under the baton of George Szell playing Rachmaninoff 's Piano Concerto No. 3 . Between 1956 and 1966 he took an extended sabbatical for the purpose of studying and teaching. He resumed his career in 1966 by giving a recital in Paris ; later that year he played Tchaikovsky 's Piano Concerto No. 1 in Berlin under Herbert von Karajan , who called him "one of the best pianists of our time".
His recording of the Liszt Sonata in B minor of the early 1970s has been described by Bryce Morrison in "Gramophone" as one of the most exciting and also lyrical.[ citation needed ] He is also well known for his readings of Schumann , Rachmaninoff, and many works by Frédéric Chopin , including the complete works for piano and orchestra, the piano sonatas nos. 2 & 3, the nocturnes, and the waltzes. Among his other notable interpretations are those of Johannes Brahms 's Piano Concerto No. 1 , with Carlo Maria Giulini and Riccardo Muti , ("Les Introuvables d'Alexis Weissenberg", 2004), Rachmaninoff's Piano Concerto No. 2 with Herbert von Karajan and the Berlin Philharmonic , and the same composer's Piano Concerto No. 3 with Georges Prêtre and Seiji Ozawa with the Boston Symphony Orchestra (also with Leonard Bernstein and the Orchestre National de France ).
He also made a highly praised recording of Stravinsky 's Three Movements from Petrushka . />
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Tchaikovsky - PIANO CONCERTO No.1 - Alexis Weissenberg & Herbert von Karajan, Berliner Philharmoniker, Philharmonie Berlin