IDAGIO | Tippett – Britten – Walton 7318599926049

Featuring

Clare Hammond
George Vass
BBC Symphony Orchestra
Sir William Walton
Benjamin Britten
Michael Tippett

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Composer's Artistic Vision

All three concertos on this album, by English composers Walton, Britten, and Tippett, eschew the traditional 19th-century model of a virtuoso soloist pitted against an orchestra.

Composer's Artistic Vision

Unlike many other composers who wrote for Paul Wittgenstein, Britten did not try to hide the soloist's one-handedness in Diversions but rather celebrated it.

Composition History

Benjamin Britten's Diversions was commissioned by Paul Wittgenstein, a left-hand pianist and brother of philosopher Ludwig Wittgenstein, who lost his right arm in World War I.

Performer Biography

Clare Hammond, the pianist on this recording, is acclaimed for her virtuosity and authority, winning the Royal Philharmonic Society's Young Artist Award in 2016.

Composition History

Michael Tippett's Piano Concerto was inspired by Walter Gieseking's 'poetic yet classical' performance of Beethoven's Fourth Piano Concerto, leading Tippett to prioritize lyricism over virtuosic display.

Critical Reception

The revised version of Walton's Sinfonia Concertante, though considered leaner and more effective, has been recorded only twice, both times with the composer conducting, and is often overlooked by soloists.

Composition History

William Walton's Sinfonia Concertante was originally conceived as a ballet score for impresario Sergei Diaghilev, but after Diaghilev rejected it, it was reworked into a concert piece.