This is the third volume in
Peter Donohoe's superlative British Piano Concertos series. The first volume featured the two concertos of Alan Rawsthorne, a name fairly well known in England and faintly familiar to American audiences. The second volume featured the two concertos plus the sonata of
Arthur Bliss, a name much better known in England and slightly better known in America. This third volume features concertos for piano and strings by four different but almost all equally unknown composers: Alec Rowley, Christian Darnton,
Roberto Gerhard, and Howard Ferguson. Three of the four are lovely little works -- Rowley's delightful Concerto from 1938, Darnton's sprightly Concerto from 1948, and Ferguson's ebullient Concerto from 1951 -- and only one is "difficult" --
Gerhard's serial yet still swinging Concerto from 1961. In all four works,
Donohoe plays with passionate conviction, making the strongest possible case for the music. Led by
Donohoe, the
Northern Sinfonia performs with polish and dedication and, because it is conducted by the pianist, it is in wonderful unity with the soloist. Naxos' sound is clean, round, and reverberant.