[ Chandos Classics / CD ]
Release Date: Tuesday 5 October 2004
This item is currently out of stock. It may take 6 or more weeks to obtain from when you place your order as this is a specialist product.
'Margaret Fingerhut is an accomplished and stylish advocate; she is particularly eloquent in the dark colours of the Michael Berekely, and gives a penetrating account of the Sonata... For anyone interested in 20th-century British music, this is warmly recommended '
- BBC Music Magazine
'I have always loved my father's piano music', writes Michael Berkeley, 'because his approach is so pianistic and shows a deep love and understanding of the instrument… these works represent in microcosm his compositional talents at their very best.' This assessment will no doubt be confirmed by those who hear the new recording. The piano was Sir Lennox's own instrument and he wrote effortlessly for it.The careful listener may very well discern the influence of Chopin, Mozart and Ravel in these works - composers whom Berkeley adored. Chandos has long been a champion of the music of Lennox and Michael Berkeley (its ongoing Berkeley Edition continues to garner new interest in the composers). Margaret Fingerhut proves a sensitive advocate.
Sir Lennox Berkeley (1903-1989)
Six Preludes, Op. 23 (1945)
Three Pieces, Op. 2 (1935)
Paysage (1944)
Scherzo, Op. 32 No. 2 (1949)
Sonata, Op. 20 in A major for piano (1941-45)
Three Mazurkas, Op. 32 No. 1 (1939-49) Hommage à Frédéric Chopin
Improvisation on a Theme of Manuel de Falla, Op. 55 No. 2 (1960)
Concert Study,Op. 48 No. 2 in E flat major (1955) premiere recording
Michael Berkeley (b. 1948)
Strange Meeting (1974-78) premiere recording