Customer Reviews

Arthur Bliss: Piano Concerto; Piano Sonata; Concerto for Two Pianos

5 star:		(1)
4 star:		(3)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

The Bliss piano concerto and I are old acquaintances. It was premiered ten days before I myself came into the world, and I heard it performed in the 1950's by the original soloist with the same orchestra (then lacking only the prefix `royal') as on this disc. One sad recollection is that I was able to hear it in the old St Andrew's Halls in Glasgow, one of the finest concert-halls in all Europe, now destroyed in a fire. Probably the only real reservation I have concerning this record is that I miss that marvellous acoustic. I have never attended a concert in the Glasgow Royal Concert Hall, but I could have done with rather more spaciousness and `air' in the orchestral sound, and a little more ring to the piano tone in the two concertos, whether or not the new hall's acoustic is responsible for the lack.

Peter Donohoe seems to me considerably under-appreciated. He is not only a more assured virtuoso than the original soloist Solomon ever was, he is a very assured stylist as well. Anyone with a tentative interest in the British Piano Concerto Foundation, under whose auspices this record is issued, might prefer to start with this disc than with its excellent predecessor the Rawsthorne concertos. Bliss did not have as strong or distinctive a musical voice as his English contemporaries Delius and Walton did, but his style is no mere matter of a scissors-and-paste collage of various musical idioms current at the time. He has something of his own to say, to my ears something very attractive, interesting and agreeable, and I can hardly imagine a better and more confident advocate for it than Donohoe. There is some very striking piano playing here, in particular some fine martellato trills near the end of the solo concerto's first movement that make me interested to hear this soloist in the Brahms D minor.

The other two works on the record are Bliss's piano sonata and a short concerto for two pianos, in which Donohoe is joined by Martin Roscoe in a very sympathetic, democratic and polished partnership. Something approaching solo status is also given in this work to the xylophone, and as far as that is concerned the acoustic, whatever my slight reservations about it in general, works to its advantage. I think you would probably know that this was English music. However the solo concerto was written specifically for the New York World Fair in 1939 and is specifically dedicated to the people of America. I am quite unable to comment on the composer's view that the concerto should be `romantic' in style because the American public are of a romantic disposition. Bliss was part-American by parentage, Donohoe is English but presumably of Irish extraction, I myself am Scottish and happy to hear how the orchestra from which I first learned about orchestral music has developed into a world-class band, but probably not well placed to assess the comparative romanticism of Americans. To my own ears this is thoroughly engaging music that I expect to be playing frequently. In fact the most notable revival of a British piano concerto was by no less than Sviatoslav Richter, whose record of Britten's concerto with the composer conducting is in the current catalogues, although not as part of the series under review here. Among them they are making me eager to hear more of it, and I commend this issue wholeheartedly.

I'm fond of much of the music of Sir Arthur Bliss -- A Colour Symphony, Adam Zero, Cello Concerto, Melee Fantasque and Music for Strings are all first rate works, abounding with good ideas. Bliss also composed some very good chamber music, including string quartets and assorted pieces for woodwinds and strings. Unfortunately, Sir Arthur's piano concerto, which takes up more than half of the compact disc under review, doesn't fall into the same category of excellence. Despite a prodigious effort by the fine pianist Peter Donohoe, the music simply fails to inspire. The score reminds me of Rachmaninoff's fourth concerto, with a lot of bombastic statements and keyboard flash and not much more than that.

The piano sonata didn't hold alot of appeal for me either, which was disappointing as (once again) I was anticipating music on the same level as Bliss's chamber and orchestral output.

I have awarded this disc three stars because the musicians have turned in strong performances - but, with the provisio that only Bliss completists need to check this disc out....

Although I am uncertain how well it has fared in the concert hall, Bliss's big piano concerto from 1939 has fared relatively well on disc, although this is as far as I can see its only modern version. I'll have to refrain from comparing alternatives, however - I don't think I've heard any, although the version with Solomon sounds reasonably enticing. The music is bold, brash and clamorous, dramatic with lots of swagger and romantic color, thoroughly extrovert. The first movement in particular shows influences from Gershwin, with jazzy outbursts and strident quarreling between piano and orchestra. Still it manages to balance the brasher parts and the more lyrical vein running through the movement quite impressively, and although there is nothing memorable there in terms of thematic material, the movement does indeed impress musically.

The second movement is thoroughly romantic, tender and atmospheric and the finale a rather hollow-sounding but swaggering thing with ample opportunity for virtuosic show-off from the soloist. Throughout Donohoe's playing is impressive, excelling in the most swashbuckling jazziness as much as in the delicate tenderness of the more lyrical parts. The Royal Scottish National Orchestra follows him admirably under the direction of Lloyd-Jones, and the rapport between soloist and orchestra is quite impressive (especially in the slow movement). So while I wouldn't make any great claims for the work - it is surely not among Bliss's strongest scores - it is good to have it in performances as compelling as these.

The piano sonata dates from 1952 and is clearly cut from the same cloth as the concerto with its mixture of extrovert swagger and romanticism. It is a relatively rewarding work (the robust first movement being the strongest), and Donohoe is certainly a compelling advocate. The concerto for two pianos, from two years before the sonata, draws more heavily on impressionism and perhaps even Les Six. It's a dazzling display of colors and effects, urban like a Martinu score with a dreamlike slow section binding the appealing first section and somewhat harsh final section together. Again a hugely enjoyable work, if not particularly profound or memorable, and again I have real complaints about neither the soloists nor the orchestra. The sound quality is good, and all in all this is a rewarding and recommendable release, even though none of the works shows Bliss at his very best.

Modernish romantic, tunefull late Brittish music. Well performed and recorded. This music should be more mainstream. Easy to enjoy.

[Update: This disc has just been nominated for a Grammy.]

The featured soloist here, pianist Peter Donohoe, is intimately involved in the ongoing 'British Piano Concerto' series coming out on Naxos. This is a worthwhile venture for the company and certainly has some of us eager for each new release. I have previously written about the wonderful Rawsthorne concerti here at Amazon.

I had never encountered either of the concerti by Arthur Bliss (1891-1975) recorded here. The largest piece (and the first on the CD), the Piano Concerto, is a bit of an overcooked omelet. Bliss wrote it on commission from the British Council for the 1939 New York World's Fair and it was premièred by Solomon with the New York Philharmonic under Adrian Boult. He said that he wanted to write something 'romantic' ... 'for surely the Americans are the most romantic people on earth.' I'm not sure what to make of that comment, but he certainly did write a Romantic concerto with an abundance of Tchaikovskian gestures, particularly for the pianist. Unfortunately that approach coupled with Bliss's musical tendency to mix modal melody with Impressionist harmonies and, in this particular case, with 'American' unresolved dominant sevenths and blue notes, leads to a bit of a mess. The concerto does get stronger as it goes along. The first movement, at almost seventeen minutes, overstays its welcome at least partly because there is little melodic distinction, a fair amount of empty gesturing, and a tendency to get in a rhythmic rut. The second movement is a quiet rumination with some fuzzy and intriguing harmonies. The finale is an energetic rondo with the feeling of a perpetuum mobile, although there are some slower interludes. The ending, however, feels tacked on, almost as if the composer felt he had to end with a bang. Not a success, this piece, but it is nicely played by Donohoe. The piano sound is a bit forward, and the couple of places where the concertmaster's violin has a dialog with the pianist lose their effectiveness because the violinist's sound is so recessed.

From here on, though, is smooth sailing. Next comes a big, broad-shouldered piano sonata, written for Mewton-Wood in 1951. This 21-minute piece has a brusquely energetic first movement characterized by an arresting dotted-note upbeat rhythm (taDUT/DAAH) that has the feel of an Prokofievesque sicilienne, if one can imagine such a thing. The Adagio sereno begins with a series of chords harmonized as if by Debussy and the subjected to a set of increasingly intense yet still serene variations. For me, this is the emotional center of the sonata, and one that I find myself listening to repeatedly on its own and even trying to imitate by ear at my own piano. The third movement is a spiky Stravinskyesque romp, played brilliantly I must say, by Donohoe.

The final piece, the Concerto for Two Pianos and Orchestra, has an interesting history. Bliss wrote a piece for tenor, piano and strings in the early 20s. He then recast it for two pianos, winds, brass and percussion in 1924 and it was premièred in Boston the same year as the famous Aeolian Hall concert that featured Gershwin's 'Rhapsody in Blue.' It then languished until 1950 when he rewrote it for two pianos and full orchestra (the version heard here) and then finally, in 1968, he rewrote it again, this time for two pianists/three hands especially for the two-piano team of Phyllis Sellick and Cyril Smith, the latter having lost the use of one of his hands. (The same team inspired Malcolm Arnold's better-known 'Concerto for Phyllis and Cyril'). It is a twelve-minute work in three sections played without pause. Even more Stravinskyesque than the third movement of the Sonata, the orchestration is positively influenced by that of the early Stravinsky ballets. This lighthearted and sophisticated concerto has the clarity of the best French music of the period, with glinting runs and delicate washes of color from the two pianists. Donohoe is joined at the second piano by friend and colleague Martin Roscoe. Their performance is a triumph; they are in complete sync and yet one can hear two individuals playing. The important orchestral part seems less recessed than in the one-piano concerto recording. Conductor David Lloyd-Jones and his Royal Scottish National Orchestra give solid support.

TT=72:59

Scott Morrison