Composer: Benjamin Britten
Performer: Steven Osborne
Orchestra: BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestra
Conductor: Ilan Volkov
Format: FLAC (tracks)
Label: Hyperion
Catalogue: CDA67625
Release: 2008
Size: 266 MB
Recovery: +3%
Scan: yes
Piano Concerto, Op. 13
01. I. Toccata: Allegro molto e con brio
02. II. Waltz: Allegretto
03. III. Impromptu: Andante lento
04. IV. March: Allegro moderato – sempre alla marcia
Piano Concerto in D major ‘original 1938 version’, Op 13
05. III. Recitative and Aria: Lento
06. Young Apollo, Op. 16
Diversions for piano (left hand) and orchestra, Op. 21
07. I. Theme: Maestoso
08. II. Variation I. Recitative: L’istesso tempo (Maestoso)
09. III. Variation II. Romance: Allegretto mosso
10. IV. Variation III. March: Allegro con brio
11. V. Variation IV. Arabesque: Allegretto
12. VI. Variation V. Chant: Andante solennemente
13. VII. Variation VI. Nocturne: Andante piacevole
14. VIII. Variation VII. Badinerie: Grave – Vivacissimo
15. IX. Variation VIII. Burlesque: Molto moderato
16. X. Variation IXa. Toccata I: Allegro
17. XI. Variation IXb. Toccata II – Cadenza: L’istesso tempo
18. XII. Variation X: Adagio
19. XIII. Finale. Tarantella: Presto con fuoco
The three compositions which comprise Britten’s music for solo piano and orchestra constitute a unique, yet still little explored, part of his output. Here they are brought together in a stunning disc that pays tribute to the great artistry of all involved.
Steven Osborne’s performance of Britten’s Piano Concerto with the BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestra under Ilan Volkov at the 2007 BBC Proms redefined this often undervalued work in the ears of his listeners, imbuing it with hitherto unsuspected emotional and musical weight; playing the bravura passages with glittering assurance and joie de vivre. The same musicians have put down a benchmark recording here.
Diversions for left-hand piano and orchestra is a gem of a piece, which has rarely been recorded. It is highly virtuosic and incredibly well laid out for the left hand, at times almost in the form of études for piano and orchestra. Britten reaches unexpected levels of emotional intensity, most notably in the Chant and the powerful Allegro.
Seventy years or so after these works were first performed, their freshness and vitality speaks with the same musical truth that Imogen Holst divined in Britten’s work, when, writing to him after attending an early performance of Peter Grimes, she said: ‘You have given it to us at the very moment when it was most needed.’ In revisiting these unjustly neglected early works, and, through performances of matchless brilliance, discovering qualities that were missed or overlooked when they first appeared, we have good cause to echo her sentiments.