Search - Benjamin Britten, Kimmo Korhonen, Okko Kamu :: Benjamin Britten: Piano Concerto; Soirées Musicales; Matinées Musicales

Rare recording of Soirees by Rossini/Britten

Frank Lin | 07/25/2002

(4 out of 5 stars)

"While there is a number of fine Britten Piano Concerto recordings in the market today, it is difficult to find any recording of Soirees/Matinees Musicales. So the focus of this review is on the latter, presumably the quasi-filler of the release.Rossini wrote Soirees Musicales and Matinee Musicales as Italian aria pieces mostly for solo soprano and piano accompaniment in soiree and matinee settings, though these pieces contain movements for soprano duet and tenor solo. I had spent many years looking for their recordings without success, until I finally bumped into one in a store in Berlin (Dussmann) last year. It is made by an Italian company.Britten arranged these two pieces into orchestral pieces (without voice), which are included in this recording. A few movements were dropped by Britten. The orchestration gives a somewhat whimsical feel, especially when some fortissimo passages are accentuated with timpani. Overall the arrangements have an upbeat, flippant, and comedic mood, in contrast with the lingering, melodramatic, romance-centric original. In fact the arrangements might be more typical in a Boston Pops concert than at Berlin Phiharmonic.The performance in "Soirees" and "Matinees" are sound and energetic. The sound is not lush but crisp and invigorating.Compared to "Soirees" and "Matinees," the piano concerto is a totally different work. This is a 20th century composition typical of Britten's style -- esp. like Peter Grimes, with some resemblence to the style of Shostakovich. Gothani, the pianist, gives a spirited performance and meshes well with the orchestra. I like the tempo of this reading by conductor Komu. I'm not too familar with Komu -- I just know he does some Swedish works for Naxos.Recommended -- even just for the two esoteric Rossini pieces."