Your ten favourite concertos for orchestra and two solo instruments.

[salymap]

Something for the doldrums in this pre-proms period.

[aeolium]

Vivaldi - 2 violins in A minor, op 3 no 8 (from L'Estro Armonico)
Bach - 2 harpsichords C major
Handel - concerti a due cori (x 3)
Mozart - 2 pianos K365
Mozart - Sinfonia Concertante K364
Brahms - violin & cello
Poulenc - 2 pianos
Shostakovitch - piano, trumpet and strings

[ferneyhoughgeliebte]

Bach: 2 Violins
Bach: Oboe & Violin
Mozart: Flute & Harp
Mozart: Sinfonia Concertante
Brahms: Double Concerto
Lutoslawski: Oboe & Harp
Ligeti: Flute & Oboe
Henze: Oboe & Harp
Berio: 2 Pianos
Poulenc: 2 Pianos

... for once, I found it difficult to reach 10, and had to include a couple of "quite likes" rather than "absolutely couldn't live without". I nearly included Stravinsky's Concerto for Two Solo Pianos, but thought that that was cheating. Toyed with Bartok's orchestral version of the Sonata for 2 Pianos & Percussion, but I so much prefer the original that to me the orchestral additions just sound naff in comparison.

[teamsaint]

Just one to add which is a lot of fun, The Mendelssohn Concerto for Violin, Piano and strings in D Minor.

[Tony Halstead]

Vivaldi - 2 violins in A minor, op 3 no 8 (from L'Estro Armonico)
Bach - 2 harpsichords C major
Handel - concerti a due cori (x 3)
Mozart - 2 pianos K365
Mozart - Sinfonia Concertante K364
Brahms - violin & cello
Poulenc - 2 pianos
Shostakovitch - piano, trumpet and strings

The Handel 'Concerti a Due Cori' nos 2 and 3 are scored for 4 oboes, 2 bassoons ( or 4 if doubled up) and 4 horns plus strings.
These are divided into 2 groups of 5 ( or 6) wind instruments, hopefully placed antiphonally and ( even more hopefully) each with its own dedicated string ensemble so that the full integrity of the stereo separation is preserved.

Although I have been fortunate enough to have played on 3 different recordings of these lovely pieces, none of them observed this last - and in my view - crucial requirement, their harpsichord- directors or conductors merely opting for a generalised central string group.
I suppose if one regards each 'coro' as a single solo source of sound rather than the OP's 'two solo instruments' then these Handel works just about qualify for inclusion under the title.

[aeolium]

Thanks for the correction, waldhorn. The horns are at times so brilliantly prominent that I had confusedly thought they were almost solo instruments - and I had mistakenly thought of 'corni' rather than 'cori' ("choirs" of instruments). I must have a rethink

[Dave2002]

I misread the title and was wondering if I could even find as many as 5 concertos for orchestra.
Bartok, Kodaly and Lutoslawski are all I can offer so far.

Then I opened up the browser and noted the exta two soloists..

I'll not repeat what others (e.g. Fhg) have already proposed, though will mention that I'm particularly fond of Brahms' double, and the Bach violin and oboe concerto in D minor.

i can add a few more. There is a lovely Telemann concerto for flute and recorder.

Pleasant, though maybe not terribly interesting, is Bruch's for clarinet and Viola.

Shostakovich's first piano concerto also features a trumpet.

I'll keep thinking.

If we do 3 then I'm guessing that Beethoven's triple will trump Tippett's.

[EdgeleyRob]

Brahms - Violin and Cello.
Delius - Violin and Cello.
Mendelssohn - Violin and Piano.
Vaughan Williams - 2 Pianos (arrangement of the Piano Concerto).
Rawsthorne - 2 pianos.
Holst - 2 Violins.
Mozart - Sinfonia Concertante,Violin and Viola.
Mozart - Flute and Harp.
Arnold - 2 Violins.
Britten - Violin and Viola.

[Dave2002]

Just one to add which is a lot of fun, The Mendelssohn Concerto for Violin, Piano and strings in D Minor.

He also wrote a two piano concerto in E major when he was 14.

Bruch wrote a double piano concerto in A flat minor.

Martinu wrote a concerto for piano, timpani and strings.

Britten wrote a violin and viola concerto,

Arthur Benjamin wrote a Romantic Fantasy for violin and viola.

PS: Does Poulenc's organ concerto count? It has a prominent part for timpani, though that might be considered part of the orchestra.

[EdgeleyRob]

He also wrote a two piano concerto in E major when he was 14.

He wrote 2 x two piano concertos.
They have been recorded too (Hyperion and Naxos).

[Dave2002]

Vivaldi KV 531, double cello concerto

[aeolium]

And there is Vanhal's concerto for two bassoons and orchestra.

C P E Bach's concerto for fortepiano, harpsichord and orchestra is worth hearing.

[salymap]

Just one or two that have not been mentioned:

Geoffrey Bush - Concerto no 1 for piano, trumpet and strings
Ruth Gipps.- Concerto for violin,viola and small orchestra
Holst -Fugal concerto for flute, oboe and strings.
Desmond MacMahon - Double trumpet concerto.

[Dave2002]

Anyone for Carter? - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sebIv...e_gdata_player

[ferneyhoughgeliebte]

Anyone for Carter? - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sebIv...e_gdata_player

<doh> Of course!!!

Out goes the Poulenc! And I'd forgotten the Delius Violin & 'cello; Fred and Hans Werner fight for their place here.

Oh, and Dave; spotify (or similar) the Concerto for Orchestra by Roger Sessions - I think you might want to add it to your list!