The Romantic Piano Concerto, Vol. 23- Holbrooke: The Song of Gwyn ap Nudd / Wood: Concerto in D minor for Piano & Orchestra
Another hugely enterprising installment of Hyperion'songoing Romantic Piano Concerto series, coupling two long-buried jewels of British music in irreproachably stylish performances. A prolific composer and brilliant pianist, Joseph Holbrooke (1878-1958) was considered one of the most promising young talents on the British musical scene in the years leading up to World War I. His lavish first piano concerto was first heard in 1910, and follows the events of a poem (printed in the booklet) based on a Welsh legend by T.E. Ellis (alias Holbrooke's patron, Lord Howard de Walden). Leave the text to one side, sit back, and revel in one of the most enjoyably extravagant romantic piano concertos you're ever likely to hear.One of the kings of British light music, Haydn Wood (1882-1959) initially studied composition at the Royal College of Music with Stanford, who directed the July 1909 premiere of his pupil's piano concerto in D minor. Grieg, Rachmaninoff, and Tchaikovsky all loom very large indeed in Wood's youthful essay. The Andante slow movement, however, is bewitching. Both works receive performances as immaculately finished as they are utterly dedicated. Tiptop sound, too. No one with a sweet tooth should fail to hear this.--Andrew Achenbach