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Frank BRIDGE (1879-1941)
Dance Rhapsody (1908) [18:22]
Dance Poem (1913) [15:38]
Two Jefferies Poems: (1) The Open Air; (2) The Story of My Heart (1916) [7:44; 4:25]
Overture Rebus (1940) [10:38]
Allegro Moderato for string orchestra (1941) [14:47]
London Philharmonic Orchestra/Nicholas Braithwaite
rec. 1979. ADD
LYRITA SRCD.243 [71:38]

 

Another excellent Lyrita release of works by Frank Bridge, presenting music that ranges from early compositions in his lusher, more romantic style through to his more terse and astringent later ‘voice’.

The disc opens with the buoyant Dance Rhapsody, in which Nicholas Braithwaite conducts the London Philharmonic Orchestra with a light and sparkling touch, and allows the work to dance scintillatingly, full of joy. He takes it at a faster pace than Hickox - on the Bridge Orchestral Works Chandos series - giving it an exhilarating whirlwind of a performance. The Dance Poem, ensues, in which he captures well the quixotic, slightly mysterious air of the piece, and leads it through an intense and passionate climax to a wonderfully insouciant conclusion. The Two Poems follow, with an apt sense of introspection and disquiet in The Open Air, while the contrastingly vivacious The Story of my Heart is given an exuberant and chirpy performance.

Braithwaite creates a rich orchestral sound in the overture Rebus, in a well-paced and relaxed rendition, enabling the elegance and romanticism inherent in the piece to shine through. The disc concludes with the Allegro Moderato for string orchestra, which conductor and orchestra manage to invest with a wonderfully radiant string sound, despite the astringency of the music itself.

A good range of music - excellent for those, perhaps, who are not particularly familiar with this all-too-little known composer, and would like to explore the broad spectrum of his works - and some top quality performances. Nicholas Braithwaite and the London Philharmonic Orchestra really get into these splendid pieces and give them their very best. This disc is a delight.

Em Marshall

see also reviews by Rob Barnett (RECORDING OF THE MONTH June07) and Jonathan Woolf

Lyrita Catalogue

 

 

 

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