Search - George Dyson, Richard Hickox, City of London Sinfonia :: Dyson: Concerto Leggiero; Concerto da Camera; Concerto da Chiesa

Chandos gold!

K. Farrington | Missegre, France | 03/12/2000

(5 out of 5 stars)

"This is another brilliant offering from Chandos. My turntable seems to be permanently occupied by Chandos CDs these days and this fabulous collection is one of the reasons why. Dyson was an exact contemporary of John Ireland and his music has been less appreciated possibly because of his amateur status (in terms of his teacher day job only and not in any other sense!) and his overt romanticism which was certainly not the flavour the professional pundits liked after WWII. This has meant that graceful, enjoyable, tuneful works like these have been ignored while more radical and 'artistic' creations have been feted and recorded, much to public's detriment in my opinion. The times they are a changin' and rightly so for we have been cheated out of a feast of beautiful music like this. The Concerto Leggiero is a 'light' Piano Concerto, not light in musical content but light in mood, in touch, reflecting a sunnier piano and orchestra form than say the Brahmsian flavor. The English romantic composers explored certain aspects of the romantic piano concerto which have been largely overlooked as trifles. John Ireland and Cyril Scott in their respective concertos saw possibilities of 'lightness' that Dyson takes up and makes into a 24 minute masterpiece. The gentle rocking rhythms and kind harmonies hide the true complex musical argument and the concise orchestration and classical form, almost Mozartian but are given Dyson's sure touch and creative fire that is the watermark on all his works. The two other works are for string orchestra and are part of the English heritage of Elgar, VW, Tippett and Howells that are a unique collection for this sonority form. Every moment of this CD is to be treasured, adored and repeated whenever an adminstration of 'lightness' is required or even when not. First class playing and recording as usual from Chandos, everything sounds so fresh and new. I hope they are not running short of works like this to provide premier recordings because it is like discovering a new friend every time."