Gerald Finzi - Cello Concerto; etc. (Tim Hugh; Peter Donohoe)

Information

Composer: Gerald Finzi

• (01) Cello Concerto, Op. 40
• (04) Eclogue for piano and strings, Op. 10
• (05) Grand Fantasia and Toccata, Op. 38

Tim Hugh, cello
Peter Donohoe, piano
Northern Sinfonia
Howard Griffiths, conductor

Date: 2001
Label: Naxos
https://www.naxos.com/catalogue/item.asp?item_code=8.555766

----------------------------------------------------------------------------

Review

In the Finzi centenary year it is good to welcome an excellent bargain version of his Cello Concerto‚ arguably his finest work‚ written at the very end of his life under the stress of knowing he was terminally ill. Naxos adds to its growing store of fine cello concerto recordings with what many will regard as an ideal coupling: two movements originally designed for a projected Piano Concerto.

At just under 40 minutes the Cello Concerto is planned on a massive scale. The first movement brings the darkest music‚ an extended tutti establishing a brooding tone of voice‚ a passage which in this performance reveals echoes of the Elgar Cello Concerto‚ noble and stoic‚ a quality which Tim Hugh reinforces. The slow movement finds Finzi more characteristically in tender pastoral vein with a poignant tinge of melancholy‚ music originally conceived many years before its actual completion in 1951. The rest of the concerto dates from four years later‚ with the finale determinedly more cheerful in a vigorous polonaise rhythm.

In this challenging work Tim Hugh gives a masterful performance‚ even though having the solo instrument balanced rather farther back than usual reduces his impact. The Northern Sinfonia cannot be faulted either‚ though one would have welcomed a greater weight of string tone at times. The compensation is that pianissimos are magically gentle.

The Eclogue for piano and orchestra‚ written as early as 1929‚ was discovered and performed only after the composer’s death in 1956‚ a hauntingly beautiful piece very like the slow movement of the Cello Concerto both in mood and even thematic material. Donohoe faithfully observes the marking semplice (simple) in his expressive playing‚ even if he is dangerously muscular at climaxes. He launches at full force into the Bachian figuration of the Grand Fantasia‚ originally conceived in 1927­28‚ to which Finzi added a vigorous Toccata with jazzy rhythms 25 years later.

-- Gramophone

More reviews:
BBC Music Magazine  PERFORMANCE: ***** / SOUND: ****
ClassicsToday  ARTISTIC QUALITY: 9 / SOUND QUALITY: 9
http://www.musicweb-international.com/classrev/2001/Dec01/Finzicello.htm
http://www.classical.net/music/recs/reviews/c/cha09949a.php
https://www.naxos.com/reviews/reviewslist.asp?catalogueid=8.555766&languageid=EN
https://www.amazon.com/Finzi-Concerto-orchestra-Eclogue-Fantasia/dp/B00005QCYM

----------------------------------------------------------------------------

Gerald Finzi (14 July 1901 – 27 September 1956) was a British composer. He studied with Ernest Farrar, Edward Bairstow and Reginald Owen Morris. Finzi is best known as a choral composer, but also wrote in other genres. Large-scale compositions by Finzi include the cantata Dies natalis for solo voice and string orchestra, and his concertos for cello and clarinet. Finzi also wrote nine song cycles and a few chamber works. Thanks to both of his sons and the support of other enthusiasts, as well as the work of the Finzi Trust and the Finzi Friends, Finzi’s music enjoyed a great resurgence from the late 20th century onwards.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gerald_Finzi
http://www.geraldfinzi.com/

***

Tim Hugh studied at Yale with Aldo Parisot and afterwards with Pleeth and Jaqueline du Pre whilst gaining his MA in Medicine and Anthropology at St Johns College, Cambridge. His post as principal cellist of the London Symphony Orchestra has afforded him countless opportunities to work with the world’s most eminent conductors. As chamber musician he plays with the Nash ensemble regularly and has recorded a large part of the piano trio repertoire with the Solomon Trio. Earlier recordings include Faure piano quartets as a member of Domus and numerous recital discs. Hugh is playing on a cello by Zanoli.
http://www.naxos.com/person/Tim_Hugh_326/326.htm
http://www.timhugh.co.uk/index.php?page=biography

***

Peter Donohoe (born 18 June 1953 in Manchester, England) is an English classical pianist. Donohoe studied at the Royal Manchester College and the Royal Northern College of Music. Since appearing on the professional stage, he has performed all over the world in solo recitals and chamber music, and as solo artist with many of the world's leading orchestras. Since 1988, he has made many recordings with EMI, Deutsche Gramophon, Hyperion, Chandos, BMG, Warner and Naxos. His series of recordings devoted to British works for piano and orchestra was inaugurated in 2001, growing to a catalogue of 14 works.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Peter_Donohoe_(pianist)
http://www.peter-donohoe.com/en/home

***

Howard Griffiths (born 24 February 1950 in Hastings) is a British conductor. Griffiths studied music at the Royal College of Music, London, and has lived in Switzerland since 1981. He was Artistic Director and Principal Conductor of the Zurich Chamber Orchestra from 1996 to 2006. Since the season 2007/08, he is General Music Director of the Brandenburgisches Staatsorchester, and has also appeared as a guest conductor with many leading orchestras all over the world. Griffiths has a broad repertoire, with about 100 CD recordings with various labels (including Warner, Universal, cpo, Sony and Koch).
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Howard_Griffiths_(conductor)

----------------------------------------------------------------------------

FLAC, tracks

Links in comment

Enjoy!