Arthur Bliss - Complete Piano Music, Vol. 2 (Mark Bebbington)

Information

Composer: Arthur Bliss

1. Masks: I. A Comedy Mask
2. Masks: II. A Romantic Mask
3. Masks: III. A Sinister Mask
4. Masks: IV. A Military Mask
5. 2 Interludes: I. Moderato
6. 2 Interludes: II. Moderato
7. Suite for Piano: I. Prelude
8. Suite for Piano: II. Ballade
9. Suite for Piano: III. Scherzo
10. Bach - Das alte Jahr vergangen ist (The old year has ended), BWV 614 (arr. Bliss)
11. The Rout Trot
12. Triptych: I. Meditation: Andante tranquillo
13. Triptych: II. Dramatic Recitative: Grave — poco a poco molto animato
14. Triptych: III. Capriccio: Allegro
15. Bliss (One-Step)

Mark Bebbington, piano

Date: 2016

Label: SOMM Recordings

https://somm-recordings.com/recording/the-complete-piano-music-of-sir-arthur-bliss-volume-two/

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Review

The second volume in Mark Bebbington’s welcome and conspicuously classy survey of Bliss’s complete piano output contains one premiere recording – and quite a find it proves to be! The three-movement Suite for piano was composed around 1912 (by which time Bliss was already a most proficient pianist) and certainly reveals a burgeoning, questing talent; its central Ballade in particular evinces an exciting dramatic and poetic scope that put me in mind of some of the astonishingly precocious offerings of Herbert Howells (one of Bliss’s contemporaries at the Royal College of Music). By the time we reach the exhilarating Masks (1924) and marvellous Two Interludes (1925), Bliss’s emotional range had deepened immeasurably. Not only had he seen courageous and harrowing active service in the trenches but the death of his beloved younger brother Kennard at the Battle of the Somme had also come as a shattering blow; indeed, it’s not hard to hear the sense of poignancy, loss and rage in the final two Masks (marked ‘Sinister’ and ‘Military’) and opening Interlude especially.

The meatiest fare on the disc comprises the Triptych that the septuagenarian composer wrote in 1970 for Louis Kentner – a wholly compelling, deeply felt statement, demanding not only formidable technical acumen but also unwavering powers of lofty concentration. It’s framed in turn by two deliciously bluesy dance miniatures, ‘Bliss’ (One-Step) and The Rout Trot from 1923 and 1927 respectively. That just leaves the disarmingly tasteful and suitably pensive reworking of the chorale prelude Das alte Jahr vergangen ist (‘The old year has ended’), Bliss’s contribution to a collection of Bach arrangements for the modern piano devised by Harriet Cohen and published by Oxford University Press in 1932.

I’m happy to report that Bebbington’s stylish and perceptive interpretations have been immaculately captured by producer Siva Oke and engineer Paul Arden-Taylor working in the helpful surroundings of Birmingham’s Symphony Hall. What’s more, Robert Matthew-Walker’s authoritative booklet essay is a joy to read. All told, a super release.

-- Andrew Achenbach, Gramophone

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Arthur Bliss (2 August 1891 – 27 March 1975) was an English composer and conductor. After the First World War, he quickly became known as an unconventional and modernist composer, but within the decade he began to display a more traditional and romantic side in his music. In Bliss's later years, his work was respected but was thought old-fashioned, and it was eclipsed by the music of younger colleagues such as William Walton and Benjamin Britten. Since his death, his compositions have been well represented on record, and many of his better-known works remain in the repertoire of British orchestras.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Arthur_Bliss

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Mark Bebbington (born 17 January 1972) is a British concert pianist. He studied at the Royal College of Music, and later studied in Paris and Italy with Aldo Ciccolini. Internationally recognised as a champion of British music in particular, Bebbington has recorded extensively for the SOMM label to critical acclaim. In addition to a series of five-star reviews in BBC Music Magazine, he has won Gramophone Editor's Choice and International Record Review's 'Outstanding' accolade. Bebbington has featured both as soloist and recitalist on BBC television and radio, and on major European television and radio networks.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mark_Bebbington
http://markbebbington.co.uk/

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