John Wilson, BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestra & Colin Currie - Bennett: Orchestral Works, Vol 1 (2017) [Hi-Res]

The BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestra and its Associate Guest Conductor John Wilson record for the first time together on Chandos, embarking on a new series devoted to the brilliant orchestral works of Sir Richard Rodney Bennett.

While internationally famous for his dances, jazz creations, and film and TV scores, Bennett wrote sumptuous works of ‘concert music’, as he called it. This first volume reveals him as one of the most brilliant natural talents to emerge in post-war British music. Influenced by both the American Songbook and his teacher Pierre Boulez, he also always strove to place melody – and emotional honesty – at the centre of his music.

These traits are coupled in the epic Marimba Concerto, an innovative piece for the composer, moving from a colourful and lyrical first movement to highly virtuosic passages and strikingly athletic cadenzas. The demanding solo part is tackled here by the multi-award-winning Colin Currie, nowadays seen as the world’s finest and most daring percussionist, as well as a champion of contemporary music.

“...Performances are electrifying: the acoustic of Glasgow City Hall lending space and warmth to the sound. John Wilson’s BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestra are on superb form, their playing combining transatlantic sheen with earthy weight. Dive in forthwith – an invigorating feelgood disc." (Graham Rickson, The Arts Desk)

“...Bennett’s music speaks to the listener directly – but you have to listen properly. This first volume has been very well chosen. It opens with the short Celebration (1991), its qualities outshine any temporal doubts ... it is a brilliant showpiece with virtuoso writing that may not be as difficult to play as it sounds, leavened by a winding horn theme that is quite superbly articulated. Here is Bennett the consummate professional, displaying his seemingly effortless mastery at its most elegant, with John Wilson drawing from the BBC Scottish SO a response of the highest quality... John Wilson is the ideal interpreter of this composer’s music for a variety of reasons, including his empathy, total grasp and inspiring direction. The result, captured in impressive sound, is a fabulously successful inauguration of a badly-needed revivification of a major figure whose art is by no means as fully understood or appreciated as it deserves.” (Robert Matthew-Walker, ClassicalSource)

John Wilson, marimba
BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestra
Colin Currie, conductor