Charles Villiers Stanford - Piano Concerto No. 2; Concert Variations (Margaret Fingerhut)

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Composer: Charles Villiers Stanford

1. Piano Concerto No. 2 in C minor, Op. 126: I. Allegro moderato
2. Piano Concerto No. 2 in C minor, Op. 126: II. Adagio molto - Più mosso (quasi andante)
3. Piano Concerto No. 2 in C minor, Op. 126: III. Allegro molto - Largamente e sostenuto
4. Concert Variations on "Down Among the Dead Men", Op. 71: Introduction - Thema. Allegro vivace
5. Concert Variations on "Down Among the Dead Men", Op. 71: I. Tranquillo
6. Concert Variations on "Down Among the Dead Men", Op. 71: II. Poco più mosso
7. Concert Variations on "Down Among the Dead Men", Op. 71: III. Poco meno mosso
8. Concert Variations on "Down Among the Dead Men", Op. 71: IV. Presto
9. Concert Variations on "Down Among the Dead Men", Op. 71: V.
10. Concert Variations on "Down Among the Dead Men", Op. 71: VI. Poco a poco più sostenuto
11. Concert Variations on "Down Among the Dead Men", Op. 71: VII. Intermezzo
12. Concert Variations on "Down Among the Dead Men", Op. 71: VIII. Andante tranquillo
13. Concert Variations on "Down Among the Dead Men", Op. 71: IX.
14. Concert Variations on "Down Among the Dead Men", Op. 71: X.
15. Concert Variations on "Down Among the Dead Men", Op. 71: XI. Lento
16. Concert Variations on "Down Among the Dead Men", Op. 71: Finale. Allegro moderato e deciso

Margaret Fingerhut, piano

Ulster Orchestra

Vernon Handley, conductor

Date: 1989

Label: Chandos

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Review

Enterprising Chandos and Vernon Handley again! What chance otherwise would most of us have to become acquainted with Stanford's Second Piano Concerto? And is it worth it? Yes, even if—as always—one is left with ambivalent feelings about what one has heard. It is very obvious, as Lewis Foreman's characteristically informative and scholarly note points out, that Stanford began work on this concerto shortly after he had conducted the British premiere of Rachmaninov's C minor Concerto at the 1910 Leeds Festival. If imitation is the sincerest form of flattery then Rachmaninov should have blushed scarlet If he ever heard the opening of this work!

Thereafter the music pursues its romantic and cultivated way, with echoes of Liszt and Tchaikovsky, too, and pre-echoes, dare I say it, of the Warsaw Concerto. It is a very pleasing, attractive and not very original work, let down by an overlong and empty finale. But it deserves to be performed, like so much of the neglected British repertoire recorded in recent years. Gramophone reviewers continually draw attention to these works, but do our orchestral managements ever take a risk with them? Do they even read record reviews? Or are they utterly convinced that the British public today will only go to hear what it knows it likes or what is 'hyped'? Perhaps they are right, I fear.

The variations on Down among the dead men is the sort of work I imagine Stanford could have written standing on his head. It, too, is worth an airing and there ought to be room for it somewhere. That somewhere, I suspect, is the gramophone library, for the concert-going and record-collecting public seem to be separate groups, at least where British music is concerned. Those who like to explore will enjoy this disc, which is beautifully recorded, with excellent performances by Margaret Fingerhut and the Ulster Orchestra

-- Gramophone

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Charles Villiers Stanford (30 September 1852 – 29 March 1924) was an Irish composer, music teacher, and conductor. Some regarded Stanford, together with Hubert Parry and Alexander Mackenzie, are responsible for a renaissance in music from the British Isles. In 1882, aged 29, he was one of the founding professors of the Royal College of Music, where he taught composition for the rest of his life. From 1887 he was also Professor of Music at Cambridge. His students included Gustav Holst, Ralph Vaughan Williams and many more. His composite style is conservative and his music was eclipsed in the 20th century by that of Edward Elgar as well as former pupils.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Charles_Villiers_Stanford

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Margaret Fingerhut (born 30 March 1955) is a British classical pianist. A fascination with exploring lesser-known repertoire is reflected in her eclectic recital programmes and also in her recordings. Her discs on the Chandos label include works by Bainton, Bax, Berkeley, Bloch, Dukas, Falla, Grieg, Howells, Leighton, Moeran, Novák, Stanford, Suk and Tansman, as well as several pioneering collections of 19th century Russian and early 20th century French piano music.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Margaret_Fingerhut

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