MusicWeb International One of the most grown-up review sites around 2024
60,000 reviews
... and still writing ...

Search MusicWeb Here Acte Prealable Polish CDs
 

Presto Music CD retailer
 
Founder: Len Mullenger                                    Editor in Chief:John Quinn             


Some items
to consider

new MWI
Current reviews

old MWI
pre-2023 reviews

paid for
advertisements

Acte Prealable Polish recordings

Forgotten Recordings
Forgotten Recordings
All Forgotten Records Reviews

TROUBADISC
Troubadisc Weinberg- TROCD01450

All Troubadisc reviews


FOGHORN Classics

Alexandra-Quartet
Brahms String Quartets

All Foghorn Reviews


All HDTT reviews


Songs to Harp from
the Old and New World


all Nimbus reviews



all tudor reviews


Follow us on Twitter


Editorial Board
MusicWeb International
Founding Editor
   
Rob Barnett
Editor in Chief
John Quinn
Contributing Editor
Ralph Moore
Webmaster
   David Barker
Postmaster
Jonathan Woolf
MusicWeb Founder
   Len Mullenger

REVIEW


Advertising on
Musicweb


Donate and keep us afloat

 

New Releases

Naxos Classical
All Naxos reviews

Chandos recordings
All Chandos reviews

Hyperion recordings
All Hyperion reviews

Foghorn recordings
All Foghorn reviews

Troubadisc recordings
All Troubadisc reviews



all Bridge reviews


all cpo reviews

Divine Art recordings
Click to see New Releases
Get 10% off using code musicweb10
All Divine Art reviews


All Eloquence reviews

Lyrita recordings
All Lyrita Reviews

 

Wyastone New Releases
Obtain 10% discount

Subscribe to our free weekly review listing

 

 

Buy through MusicWeb
for £12 postage paid World-wide.

Musicweb Purchase button

Sound Samples and Downloads

Michael TIPPETT (1905-1998)
Triple Concerto for violin, viola, cello and orchestra (1979) [35:43]
Piano Concerto (1955) [36:35]
Ernst Kovacic (violin); Gerard Caussé (viola); Alexander Baillie (cello); Martino Tirimo (piano)
BBC Philharmonic Orchestra/Sir Michael Tippett
rec. Studio 7, BBC Broadcasting House, Manchester, 7 July 1990, 17 May 1991. DDD
NIMBUS NI 5301 [72:32]

Experience Classicsonline



 
This disc brings together two substantial concertos. Each is in three movements though the Triple Concerto’s three are separated by two brief interludes. The late and lyrical Triple Concerto was premiered by Sir Colin Davis and the LSO at the Proms on 22 August 1980. This speaks of Tippett the musical Taliesin, spinning a diaphanous bejewelled cloak of quietly jangling bells - very much Prospero’s island. The middle movement is restful. The last is a torrent of orchestral colour and grandeur. Gamelan textures - more familiar in Britten - can be heard throughout. Tippett the alchemist here leans in absorption over the alembic of his orchestra and draws out singing tones and long yearning lines. The trio ‘sing’ their parts beautifully and their nostalgic slow theme vividly reminds me of a hand cutting lazily through sun-glittering water (tr.1 9:33). The instruments are in carolling dialogue but their relationship often strikes me as being in conflict as if they must hurt each other to achieve exaltation. After so many masterful moments am I alone in wondering at the unsatisfactory way the concerto ends? There is competition in the shape of the Philips recording coupling Pauk/Imai/Kirshbaum with the Concerto for Orchestra and the identically harnessed Chandos (Hickox).
 
The Piano Concerto is much earlier (1955). It chimes into existence with a pearly gentleness; occasionally sounding like the John Ireland or Rubbra concertos. It does however rear up occasionally with overt heroism. It was intended for Julius Katchen who later withdrew. It was Louis Kentner who took his place at the premiere. This was given by the commissioning orchestra, the City of Birmingham Symphony. Beethoven’s Fourth Piano Concerto - a performance of it by Gieseking - formed the work’s inspirational ignition. It has not become popular. The concerto sports an occasional heroic approach. When in clamant dramatic mode Tippett seems startlingly Brahmsian. Occasionally I also thought of the leonine Medtner in his Third Piano Concerto. There is much glistening crystalline passage-work for the piano. Tirimo gives an impressive and emotional performance and is seemingly fully equal to the concerto’s challenges. For years this work was represented by the 1965 EMI LP (Ogdon/Philharmonia/Colin Davis) which is still worth experiencing.
 
The disc is complemented by an extensive note by Geraint Lewis.
 
A unique and generous coupling of two contrasted works. Of the two it’s the magical Triple Concerto I shall return to most often.
 

Rob Barnett

See also review by Dominy Clements
 

 

 

 

 


 


EXPLORE MUSICWEB INTERNATIONAL

Making a Donation to MusicWeb

Writing CD reviews for MWI

About MWI
Who we are, where we have come from and how we do it.

Site Map

How to find a review

How to find articles on MusicWeb
Listed in date order

Review Indexes
   By Label
      Select a label and all reviews are listed in Catalogue order
   By Masterwork
            Links from composer names (eg Sibelius) are to resource pages with links to the review indexes for the individual works as well as other resources.

Themed Review pages

Jazz reviews

 

Discographies
   Composer
      Composer surveys
   National
      Unique to MusicWeb -
a comprehensive listing of all LP and CD recordings of given works
.
Prepared by Michael Herman

The Collector’s Guide to Gramophone Company Record Labels 1898 - 1925
Howard Friedman

Book Reviews

Complete Books
We have a number of out of print complete books on-line

Interviews
With Composers, Conductors, Singers, Instumentalists and others
Includes those on the Seen and Heard site

Nostalgia

Nostalgia CD reviews

Records Of The Year
Each reviewer is given the opportunity to select the best of the releases

Monthly Best Buys
Recordings of the Month and Bargains of the Month

Comment
Arthur Butterworth Writes

An occasional column

Phil Scowcroft's Garlands
British Light Music articles

Classical blogs
A listing of Classical Music Blogs external to MusicWeb International

Reviewers Logs
What they have been listening to for pleasure

Announcements

 

Community
Bulletin Board

Give your opinions or seek answers

Reviewers
Past and present

Helpers invited!

Resources
How Did I Miss That?

Currently suspended but there are a lot there with sound clips


Composer Resources

British Composers

British Light Music Composers

Other composers

Film Music (Archive)
Film Music on the Web (Closed in December 2006)

Programme Notes
For concert organizers

External sites
British Music Society
The BBC Proms
Orchestra Sites
Recording Companies & Retailers
Online Music
Agents & Marketing
Publishers
Other links
Newsgroups
Web News sites etc

PotPourri
A pot-pourri of articles

MW Listening Room
MW Office

Advice to Windows Vista users  
Questionnaire    
Site History  
What they say about us
What we say about us!
Where to get help on the Internet
CD orders By Special Request
Graphics archive
Currency Converter
Dictionary
Magazines
Newsfeed  
Web Ring
Translation Service

Rules for potential reviewers :-)
Do Not Go Here!
April Fools






Untitled Document


Reviews from previous months
Join the mailing list and receive a hyperlinked weekly update on the discs reviewed. details
We welcome feedback on our reviews. Please use the Bulletin Board
Please paste in the first line of your comments the URL of the review to which you refer.