Classical Music

Classical Music

Classical Music

Classical Music

Classical Music

Classical Music

Classical Music

An evergreen masterpiece, an under-appreciated jewel and a great 'what might have been' - pianist Mark Bebbington and the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra conducted by Jan Latham Koenig explore the personal and musical connections between Edvard Grieg and Frederick Delius. Heard together on an album for the first time, the Piano Concertos by Grieg and Delius reveal the full extent of the composers' friendship and mutual admiration. Composed in 1868, Grieg's Piano Concerto in A minor has become one of the cornerstones of the repertoire. It's famous opening timpani roll heralds a ravishing display of virtuosity lit up by the melting melody at the heart of an immediately recognizable masterpiece. Also in a minor key, Delius's C minor Piano Concerto was inspired by a performance of Grieg's Concerto in London in 1888. Grieg's gifting of a copy of the score to Delius spurred him on to write his own Concerto. A first draft in 1897 was followed by two further revisions over the next decade before the final version heard here in a rare appearance. Grieg's mooted Second Piano Concerto was never completed, but the 150 bars he did sketch hint at what might have been. Robert Matthew-Walker has fashioned the existing material - in various stages of completion and detail - into a coherent single movement to give, for the very first time, the clearest indication of what Grieg had in mind for a work left tantalizingly unfinished. Both this and the solo piano version - also arranged by Robert Matthew-Walker - receive their premiere recordings here.

Classical Music

Classical Music

Classical Music

Classical Music

This release contains two complimentary piano works: David Matthews’ Piano Quintet Op. 92, and Dmitri Shostakovich’s Piano Quintet. The Piano Quintet by David Matthews was composed in 2004 as a gift for his fiancé Jenifer in honor of their engagement. The five-movement Piano Quintet Op. 57 by Shostakovich is possibly the best piano quintet of the twentieth century. After its premiere in November 1940, the piece was awarded a Stalin prize of 1,000,000 roubles. Pianist Martin Cousin and The Villers Quartet are well-known musicians who are personal friends of David Matthews, so it is fitting that they are recording this outstanding work.

This SOMM release brings together the premiere recordings of three works for string quartet in magnificent versions for string orchestra. The Elgar and Arnold Quartets have been arranged for strings by the renowned composer David Matthews, while Robert Simpson made his own arrangement of a movement (Allegro Deciso) from his Third Quartet.

SOMM Recordings is proud to release this album of Elgar recordings, including the first-ever release of Elgar's april, 1933 recording of Elegy, Op. 58 with the BBC Symphony Orchestra. In August, 1933, Elgar recorded teh work for a second time with the London Philharmonic Orchestra and it was this recording that was released shortly after Elgar's death in 1934. In 2015, a test pressing of the earlier recording was discovered and is now being released for the first time. There is no doubt that this recording has more energy with a greater sense of "line" and ebb-and-flow than the later performance and its neglect by Elgar and HMV is something of a mystery. In addition, this album contains a recording of the composer's Sonatina, played by its dedicatee, Elgar's niece, May Grafton. Privately recorded in 1958 at her home by the Elgar biographer, Jerrold Northrop Moore, this is an enchanting reminder of a close relationship that flourished particularly when Miss Grafton acted as Elgar's secretary. The great violinist Albert Sammons performed the Elgar concerto with the composer over many years. However, they were each contracted to different record labels so in 1929 Sammons recorded teh concerto complete with the New Queen's Hall orchestra, led by Sir Henry Wood. Sixteen years earlier, Sammons and Wood made the first recording of the concerto in a version cut by Wood to fit on four sides of 78rpm discs. This recording has not been reproduced in any other form since its release in 1916, until now.