Various Composers - British Piano Concertos, Vol. 2 (Simon Callaghan)

Information

• Gordon Jacob - Piano Concerto in E-Flat Major
• John Addison - Variations for Piano & Orchestra
• Edmund Rubbra - Piano Concerto, Op. 30

Simon Callaghan, piano

BBC National Orchestra of Wales

Stephen Bell & George Vass, conductors

Date: 2023

Label: Lyrita

https://www.wyastone.co.uk/british-piano-concertos-jacob-addison-rubbra.html

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Review

Following Lyrita’s similarly titled album of 20th-century British rarities in which only one out of six was actually designated a concerto, we now get two concertos and a variation set, all in first recordings. But given the diverse entertainment and the performers’ panache, I’d listen happily even if one of the works was called Tutti-Frutti Ice Cream. Part of the appeal is that the music doesn’t always behave as the composers’ reputations might suggest. John Addison’s scores for film or concert usually have a jaunty streak, yet his early set of Variations is often thoughtful, even melancholy. Edmund Rubbra’s heavy body of serious symphonies avoid folksy effusions; yet his 1932 concerto, which its composer later tried to forget, ends with a noisy and percussive maypole stampede. The only piece that broadly follows expectations is Gordon Jacob’s 1957 creation: the handiwork, as expected, of a master orchestrator and a skilful juggler of multiple moods – indeed, rather too many for the concerto’s own good, though they don’t stop the results being fun.

In every case, Simon Callaghan radiates delight in reviving these neglected items, and his pungent and precise fingering is matched by the spirited attack of the BBC National Orchestra of Wales and their two conductors. Some harsh brass sounds during the Jacob betray the airless studio acoustic of Cardiff’s Hoddinott Hall, and Rubbra’s percussive quirks tend to get swallowed up. None of this, though, should deter purchasers of this second round-up of British pianistic flights, whatever the pieces are called.

-- Geoff Brown, BBC Music Magazine

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Simon Callaghan’s recent concert tours have taken him throughout Europe, and to Hong Kong, Japan, Malaysia, Thailand, South Korea and Canada. He has also performed at all of the UK’s major concert halls. His festival invitations have included Highgate, Whittington and Cervo Chamber Music. Simon’s interest in rarely performed works has led to invitations to perform concertos by Françaix and Tippett, while his discography includes works ranging from Brahms and Ravel to Sterndale Bennett, Delius and Parry. Callaghan is Head of Piano at the Ingenium Academy and gives regular masterclasses.
https://www.simoncallaghan.com/

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