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
RECORDING OF THE MONTH


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

 

 

alternatively
CD: MDT AmazonUK AmazonUS

Camille SAINT-SAËNS (1835-1921)
Piano Concerto No 2 in G minor, Op. 2 [22:08]
The Swan (transcribed by Leopold Godowsky) [2:32]
Maurice RAVEL (1875-1937)
Piano Concerto in G major [20:44]
Prélude in A minor (1913) [1:25]
George GERSHWIN (1898-1937)
Rhapsody in Blue. (Original jazz band version, orchestrated by Ferde Grofé.) [14:50]
Love Walked In (transcribed by Percy Grainger) [4:02]
Benjamin Grosvenor (piano)
Royal Liverpool Philharmonic Orchestra/James Judd
rec. 16-19 April 2012, The Friary, Liverpool. DDD
DECCA 478 3527 [65:45]

Experience Classicsonline

 
Still only twenty years of age, the British pianist, Benjamin Grosvenor is already making quite a name for himself. In 2011 he became the youngest soloist ever to appear at the First Night of the BBC Proms (review) and this year he was back at the Proms again, playing one of the works featured on this new CD, the concerto by Saint-Saëns (review). This is his second CD for Decca, following a well-received recital disc of Chopin, Liszt and Ravel (478 3206) and the new recording marks his concerto debut on disc.
 
The three pieces for piano and orchestra are well chosen. The Saint-Saëns concerto may not be the most profound among concertos but it’s a delightful piece, especially when it’s as well played as it is here. In the first movement both soloist and orchestra show no little finesse and, when called for, there’s bravura in Grosvenor’s playing too. He demonstrates deft fingerwork in the filigree writing of the Allegro scherzando movement, where the orchestra is similarly light on its feet, while the finale is played with great drive and enthusiasm.
 
The opening movement of the Ravel concerto sparkles. Grosvenor is on very fine form and the playing of the RLPO is razor-sharp; I appreciated the good amount of orchestral detail that the engineers capture. In this movement the famous passage where Ravel has his soloist play the second subject all joined up with trills is something of a touchstone for me. In my experience no one has ever played it quite like Michelangeli on his wonderful 1957 recording (EMI) but Grosvenor plays this passage very well indeed. He plays with excellent poise in the exquisite slow movement and the passage where the cor anglais plays the theme while the pianist decorates the melody (from 5:30) is beautifully done by both Grosvenor and the fine RLPO player. The whiplash finale is despatched at a great lick and is a riot of high spirits. I enjoyed this performance no less than that of the Saint-Saëns concerto.
 
Grosvenor and James Judd opt for the 1924 jazz band scoring of Rhapsody in Blue. I’m glad about that because I much prefer to hear the work in Ferde Grofé’s superb scoring. In this performance the RLPO’s clarinettist launches proceedings with panache and relish – and we’re off! It sounds as if everyone’s having a ball in this performance. The orchestral parts really fizz and Grosvenor’s playing has sparkle and wit. Furthermore, both pianist and the ensemble players clearly revel in the famous Big Tune when it arrives – though without milking it. The whole performance has great pizzazz and I really enjoyed it.
 
Grosvenor adds a little encore by each of his three chosen composers and the selection of encores proves inspired. I love the way that he’s gone slightly off the beaten track for each one. The only original is the Ravel piece. This is a tiny little Prelude that Ravel wrote in 1913 as a sight-reading test for the Paris Conservatoire. Slight it may be but it’s written with the composer’s trademark delicacy and elegance. It’s a fastidious miniature and a delightful foil to the concerto. The other two encores are arrangements of original pieces by third parties. Godowsky’s arrangement of Saint-Saëns’ celebrated cello melody acknowledges that the piano can’t sustain a note in the way that a stringed instrument can. Godowsky’s solution is to clothe the melody in elaborate decoration. The result is a much more elaborate confection. It’s slightly disconcerting to hear the melody played in a higher register than usual but, as Benjamin Grosvenor says, the arrangement is “deliciously free” and he plays it delightfully. If you think Godowsky’s take on Saint-Saëns is elaborate wait till you hear what Percy Grainger does with Gershwin’s Love Walked In! It’s a truly flamboyant homage to a great song and quite possibly only Grainger would have been quite so daring – and got away with it!
 
So, there’s excellent piano playing to enjoy throughout this disc. In the three orchestral items James Judd secures responsive and keen playing from the RLPO; the orchestra is on top form.
 
The recordings have been made in The Friary. This is a former Roman Catholic church in Liverpool. Refurbished with help from the European Union, it has been turned into a rehearsal and recording facility for the RLPO and other Liverpool musical organisations. Though it’s been open since 2009 I haven’t come across a recording from this source until now. The results are pleasing and well-suited to the repertoire on this disc, not least because the acoustic sounds tighter and less spacious than the orchestra’s usual recording venue, the Philharmonic Hall. The Decca engineers have achieved very good results.
 
If I had to use one word to describe this disc it would be “entertaining”. It’s been a delight to sit back, relax and simply enjoy the music making on this disc. I daresay that in time Benjamin Grosvenor will turn his attention to the ‘big beasts’ of the concerto repertoire – Beethoven, Brahms, Rachmaninov and the like. I look forward to hearing him in such repertoire, of course, but I hope he never loses in his playing the sense of sheer pleasure that’s such a feature of this disc. For once I don’t feel it’s out of place to say ‘enjoy!’
 
John Quinn
 


 

 

 



 


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






Error processing SSI file