Geoffrey Tozer, Tamara Cislowski, Matthias Bamert - Alan Rawsthorne: Piano Concertos (2007)

This is a reissue of the 1993 Chandos recording which was welcomed by Michael Oliver, who heard Prokofiev in the background of the solo piano concertos. The first version of No 1 (1939) was for strings and percussion but three years later Rawsthorne rescored it for full orchestra and in that form the work became popular. The whirligig semiquavers in the fast movements create a scherzo atmosphere and the last movement is a tarantella. In between comes a grave chaconne full of Rawsthorne’s fingerprints.
No 2 was commissioned for the 1951 Festival of Britain, premiered by Curzon, and was more of a success: international performances followed. Both the piano and orchestral textures are fuller than in No 1 – Brahms has been suggested as a model – and the catchy rumba tune in the finale makes for an ending guaranteed to bring the house down.
The Concerto for Two Pianos, premiered by John Ogdon and Brenda Lucas in 1968, perhaps reflects the decline of Rawsthorne’s last years (although his later chamber music is well worth exploring). Like most two-piano concertos it has never been widely performed: this first recording is a valuable chance to get all three keyboard concertos together. Tozer deploys a resplendent finger-technique throughout and these are all reliable performances.
Interestingly, Lennox Berkeley’s Two-Piano Concerto has emerged in its second recording at the same time (3/07). He admired Rawsthorne and they were often linked in their early years. Both now have active societies named after them; both have monographs written by fellow composers; but Berkeley has a broader range, making Rawsthorne seem narrowly consistent, although his mannerisms have genuine attractions and he’s still representative of mid-century British music.