1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Invigorating, April 28, 2009
This review is from: Arnold: Concerto for Two Pianos (Three Hands); Concerto for Piano Duet (Audio CD)
This is a rollicking good CD. All the music is appealing, and the performances are outrageously good. The Penguin Guide gives this recording 4 stars, and I must concur. One of its great finds is the Finnish conductor Esa Heikkila. From the very start, the 21 year old Arnold's brilliant overture Beckus the Dandipratt, Heikkila's mastery of Arnold's idiom and control of the orchestra is complete. Arnold claimed that Phillip Dyson's interpretation of the Fantasy on a Theme of John Field was the best he had ever heard. It's a robust piece, with a wide range of emotions. The Concerto for Two Pianos (Three Hands) is absolutely delightful, ending with a rumba. All the performers seem to be enjoying themselves here. Perhaps the most substantial work here is the 1951 Concerto for Piano Duet and Strings. Arnold's writing shows great fluency, not least in its demands on the piano duet, and the overall mood is crystalline and Spring like. Kevin Sargent, whose credentials are mainly as a composer, complements Dyson very well in these last two pieces, and Heikkila's accompaniments throughout are masterly. Add to all this fine sound engineering from Belfast's excellent Ulster Hall (scene of many great Chandos recordings), and you have an almost essential CD of British music.
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