Anthony Goldstone - Britten Resonances (1991) CD-Rip

Anthony Goldstone assembles a piano program centered on Benjamin Britten. Beyond putting Britten's music in the middle of the recital, he also intelligently relates the rest of the works to Britten in some way. Goldstone begins with works of two of Britten's teachers, Frank Bridge and John Ireland, then follows a few short Britten pieces with a set of preludes by his friend and contemporary Lennox Berkeley, and works from the 1970s by Ronald Stevenson and Colin Matthews, who were inspired by Britten. It's a program that ranges from the freely passionate, rhapsodic Dramatic Fantasia of Bridge to the atonality and minimalism of Matthews. Each work or set of pieces takes full advantage of all the capabilities of the piano, whether it be lyrical melodies or percussive animation, crashing bass chords or delicate sparks at the top of the keyboard. The Stevenson sticks out because his music actually references Britten's. Stevenson's Sonatina Serenissima works in quotes from A Death in Venice and a motto based on Britten's name. And although he does explore the different sonorities of the piano, his more restricted range of dynamics and register and cleaner textures and lines set his sonatina apart from the rest of the program. Aside from the relationships between the composers, the program also works as a small snapshot of twentieth century British piano music.

Goldstone has an almost literal sense of interpretation. He can easily evoke the darkness of evening in Ireland's Ballade of London Nights and Britten's Night Piece, as well as stick to the markings on each of Britten's Five Walztes [sic] while maintaining the pulse and flow of the dance. Even the Berkeley Preludes and Matthews Studies, which are without titles, each exhibit distinctive characters in his hands. Goldstone is entirely at home no matter what style of composition, and he can always be relied upon to present well-thought-out and interesting programs.