Benjamin Britten’s lost Viennese accent
Album Of The WeekFrom the Lebrecht Album of the Week:
Among the epic achievements of Benjamin Britten, the concertos get forgotten. They date from his twenties and betray Viennese traces — specifically, the edge-of-tonality, emotional overload of Alban Berg and the sweeping statements of Gustav Mahler. There are two…
Read on here.
And here.
En francais ici.
Is the piece called ‘Diversions’ one of the Piano Concertos? There’s also the Cello Symphony, and the Scottish Ballad for two pianos and orchestra.
Much neglected piano concerto.
Not really forgotten – just less popular amongst piano concertos.
Odd, I have always sensed a strong Iberian element in the violin concerto, which by pure coincidence I heard twice in concert within a fairly narrow time frame. The first featured the remarkable Jorja Fleezanis with Wisconsin’s Peninsula Music Festival orchestra.
Here is the violin concerto, a strong work and sounding more Russian than Viennese, in my opinion:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dDTIae06t6Y
Fantastically played by Janine Jansen.