Special offer. Stanford: Piano Concerto No. 2
& works for solo piano
Benjamin Frith (piano)
BBC National Orchestra of Wales, Andrew Gourlay
The compulsive fluency of Stanford’s music is part of its charm…Frith’s advocacy is state-of-the-art (does any pianist around draw a lovelier sound from the keyboard, or phrase more naturally?),...
Special offer. Stanford: Piano Concerto No. 2
& works for solo piano
Benjamin Frith (piano)
BBC National Orchestra of Wales, Andrew Gourlay
Purchase product
The compulsive fluency of Stanford’s music is part of its charm…Frith’s advocacy is state-of-the-art (does any pianist around draw a lovelier sound from the keyboard, or phrase more naturally?),...
About
Stanford’s church music is very well-known, especially in Great Britain, but performances of his other repetoire are quite rare. He influenced a generation of composers, who studied with him, including Vaughan Williams, Holst, Bridge, Moeran, Howells, Bliss and Goossens.
This new disc centres around his Piano Concerto No.2, dating from 1911, a work which is romantic and ambitious in scale. It begins with a tribute to Rachmaninov’s 2nd, which Stanford had conducted the British premiere of the previous year, with composer as soloist.
British pianist Ben Frith, celebrated for his work in the Gould Piano Trio, has programmed it alongside neglected repertoire: Stanford’s ‘Dante Rhapsodies’, Six Characteristic Pieces and Five Caprices.
The Dante Rhapsodies of 1904 were inspired by the playing of Percy Grainger (whom Stanford nicknamed “Polar Bear”) and represent his grandest work for solo piano.
Benjamin Frith, who has a large and diverse concerto repertoire, has recorded piano concertos by John Field and with the Gould Piano Trio received critical acclaim for fine accounts of Stanford’s trios and a reconstructed piano quartet in C minor together with works by Ireland, Bridge, Scott and Bax – nominated for a Gramophone award.
He is joined on this disc by the BBC National Orchestra of Wales under the baton of Andrew Gourlay.
Contents and tracklist
Awards and reviews
November 2016
The compulsive fluency of Stanford’s music is part of its charm…Frith’s advocacy is state-of-the-art (does any pianist around draw a lovelier sound from the keyboard, or phrase more naturally?), and the orchestra’s contribution under Andrew Gourlay is excellently vivid and anti-routine
July 2016
[Frith] brings out the abundant invention of the concerto in the clarity and nuance of his touch and phrasing. In particular, the visionary and intimate chamber idiom of the first movement’s development, introspective in mood, is especially moving and beautifully shaped
Classical Ear
Benjamin Frith is fully on top of the solo part's technical demands and brings plenty of poetry and obvious affection to proceedings, and he receives sympathetic support from the BBC National Orchestra of Wales under Andrew Gourlay...a valuable programme that all Stanford fans will want to add to their collection.
