Piano Concertos
Avie AV2358

Recorded 13-14 January 2016 at the Sage Gateshead, UK
Producer: Simon Fox-Gál
Rel. 6th May 2016
Total time: 68.53

 

 

 

Sarah Beth Briggs, piano
Royal Northern Sinfonia
Kenneth Woods, conductor (1–3)
Bradley Creswick, co-director (4–6)

Hans Gál (1890 – 1987) : Concerto for Piano and Orchestra, Op. 57 (1948) (32.28)
1 I. Allegro energico ma non troppo (11.43)
2 II. Adagio (11.07)
3 III. Allegretto vivace (9.38)
(world premiere recording)

Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart (1756 – 1791) : Piano Concerto No. 22 in E-flat, K. 482 (1785) (35.52)
4 I. Allegro* (14.06)
5 II. Andante (8.59)
6 III. Allegro – Andante cantabile – Tempo I * (12.47)
*Cadenzas: Denis Matthews

Bringing to light another of Hans Gál’s gorgeously melodic and finely crafted scores, AVIE presents the world premiere recording of the Austrian émigré’s Concerto for Piano and Orchestra with English pianist Sarah Beth Briggs supported by Gál aficionado Kenneth Woods conducting the Royal Northern Sinfonia. Written in 1948, Gál’s large-scale romantic concerto abounds with sweeping phrases and pyrotechnics, yet at the heart of the piece lies the composer’s signature clarity and precision, making the work an ideal coupling for his 18th century Viennese compatriot Mozart’s great E-flat major concerto of 1785.