Bamert

Roberto Gerhard (1896-1970) is one of just a handful of 20th-century Spanish composers to have successfully emerged from the imposing shadow of Manuel de Falla. Gerhard's four symphonies have none of Falla's romanticism and all of the postmodern gadgetry available to any composer daring enough to use them. No languorous, moody themes; no comfortable–or comforting–structure to lull the listener: just a concatenation of brilliant expressions and marvelous conflicting ideas, chaos and noise to some, enchantment to others.

Michael Haydn is understandably overshadowed by his famous older sibling, as Salieri and Leopold Mozart are by Wolfgang Amadeus. In all three cases, these Chandos recordings go a long way towards restoring the balance. With just a handful of recordings of his music, the disc or download of Michael Haydn’s music becomes mandatory for a real appreciation of Mozart’s relation to his contemporaries, especially as one of Michael Haydn’s symphonies was long attributed to Mozart as his No.37 – he actually wrote only the slow introduction.

This is a reissue of the 1993 Chandos recording which was welcomed by Michael Oliver, who heard Prokofiev in the background of the solo piano concertos. The first version of No 1 (1939) was for strings and percussion but three years later Rawsthorne rescored it for full orchestra and in that form the work became popular. The whirligig semiquavers in the fast movements create a scherzo atmosphere and the last movement is a tarantella. In between comes a grave chaconne full of Rawsthorne’s fingerprints.

Swiss composer Frank Martin was a curious character. The son of a Protestant pastor, he combined French and German influences in typically Swiss fashion, but also tonality, atonality, and an enlivening dose of jazz. He lived a long and productive life, composed his own Requiem Mass (which he actually got to perform and record to make sure he'd got it right), and then conveniently died. This swinging concerto shows the jazz influence right at the start, where each of the solos introduces itself in what sounds like an improvised jam session. Of course the whole thing's composed with typical precision (Swiss, like in watches, right?), but it's still one of the most entertaining of this century's "group" concertos.

Parry (1848-1918), along with Stanford, made the first stage of a three- stage rocket that got British music into the orbit of the 20th century. Between them, they taught practically every major British composer of the coming generations. Both were excellent symphonists. Parry's Symphony 1 (1891) is itself strongly influenced by Brahms and Schumann in both structure and tone, but it also has a dab of British pomp (you can hear Elgar coming over the horizon). His Concertstuck of 1877 has clear Wagnerian traits, but it is more morose than Wagner. A fine performance and recording.

It is all played with customary flare and elegance by the London Mozart players. They display an obvious relish for these works, and clearly enjoy the opportunities Marsh presents to strut their stuff individually… The pulse of his conducting is fluid but disciplined, and he pays close attention to matters of texture that can achieve rare importance at time in these almost chamber-like symphonies This definately rates a strong recommendation.

The concertos on this disc may not be familiar but are very much worth buying. This recording is very sharp and clear. Mr. Cappelletti plays beautifully and his instrument (a Stradivarius)has an excpetional tone. The concertos themselves are interesting works. The Concerto Gregoriano is lyrical and at times dramatic. The Concerto all'antica sounds more like Respighi under the spell of Vivaldi and earlier Italian music (as the name indicates). It is less ambitious perhaps but enjoyable.

The popular and critically admired Chandos recordings of John Field’s expressive cycle of Piano Concertos are brought together for the first time as a limited edition 4-CD set and released at the price of only 2 CDs. A major forerunner of the Romantic school of pianism that culminated in Chopin, Dublin-born pianist and composer John Field had scarcely received his due until Chandos released the performances of the Piano Concertos by fellow countryman, Miceal O’Rourke.