Not sure if this is the first time Britten’s works for solo piano and orchestra have been brought together on one CD, but it seems appropriate for Hyperion and is probably the best even if others have preceded it. All three of these works were written during the same period: from 1938 to 1940. Early in 1939, with the impending war, Britten had moved to the U.S. with his partner Peter Pears. The Piano Concerto is roughly in the French and Russian model, but with four movements entitled Toccata, Waltz, Recitative and Aria, and March. It opens at high speed and continues that impetus for some time. Britten later created a new third movement which he substituted for the original one, and after the complete original concerto that nine-minute movement is heard on this CD.
Young Apollo was Britten’s first North American commission and it came from the CBC. The combination of string quartet and string orchestra is an interesting one; the tonality of D Major is stressed thruout the work. The third of the concerto-like works is the Diversions, which continued the repertory which came about due to the efforts of pianist Paul Wittgenstein, who had lost his right arm while on active service on the Russian front in WW I. The writing is highly virtuosic and well laid out for the left hand. Performances of the piece were not without difficulties due to the imperious attitude of Wittgenstein, who often performed it. After the war another left-hand-only pianist, Siegfried Rapp, gave several European performances which went well. Would have wished for this one in SACD, but it’s quite good in standard CD format.
– John Sunier
