The Piano Music Of Ralph Vaughan Williams [Somm SOMMCD 0164]

Description: Home About Us Postage & Payment Returns Contact Add The Pom Shop to your Favorites and receive our email newsletters about new items and special promotions. General Interest The Piano Music Of Ralph Vaughan Williams [Somm: SOMMCD 0164] After his hop across the Atlantic for his all-Gershwin disc (MusicWeb International Recording of the Month), Mark Bebbington returns to the English fare for which he is best-known, with the Complete Vaughan Williams Piano Music. This SOMM release contains world premiere recordings, notably the Introduction and Fugue. In this work, and in the Fantasia on a Theme of Thomas Tallis, both written for two-pianos, Bebbington is joined by the gifted young Romanian-Nigerian pianist Rebeca Omordia. Review Of interest here for completists is a first, finely delineated recording of the Introduction and Fugue for two pianos by Mark Bebbington and Rebecca Omordia. Bach-like in the intensity of its interlaced dialogue, and owing obvious kinship to the concurrently composed Sixth Symphony, it boasts a bold, complex fugue offering substantial satisfaction. The pair are equally sure-footed with a Tallis Fantasia full of hushed drama and operatic grandeur, poetic and poised on a sparkling, cut-crystal account of the Greensleeves Fantasia. Bebbington takes the solo spot elsewhere to just as captivating effect. Particularly pleasing are A Little Piano Book and the Suite of Six Short Pieces (better known, in its string version, as the Charterhouse Suite) pedagogical miniatures brimming with inventiveness and craftsmanship. The Lake in the Mountains, the Hymn Tune Prelude on Song 13 and aching treatment of Bach s 'Ach bleib' bei uns, Herr Jesu Christ (BWV 649) are affecting pieces realised with nuanced poetry. Essential. --Classical Ear,Feb'17 Among Vaughan Williams's compositional outpourings, only one piece readily comes to mind with a prominent piano part: the song cycle On Wenlock Edge. Thanks to this intriguing disc we realise there was more, the best of it for two players. Arrangements of his Fantasia on a Theme of Thomas Tallis and Fantasia on Greensleeves sound a pleasure to play in the dedicated hands of Mark Bebbington and Rebecca Omordia. The first recording of the two-piano Introduction and Fugue (as its title suggests, a homage to Bach) sounded slightly dogged on first hearing. Yet with repeated listening this substantial work grows more rich and lyrical, in unmistakable RVW vein. Fans as well as completists should try it. *** Observer, 5/2/17 /// What a classy anthology this is, realistically recorded within the kind acoustic of Birmingham Conservatoire's Adrian Boult Hall. --Gramophone, Mar'17 The revelation here is the first recording of the Introduction and Fugue for two pianos, a huge, craggy masterpiece composed in the aftermath of World War 2 which puts the lie to any suspicion that Ralph Vaughan Williams was a bumbling amateur. An austere introduction leads to a dazzling extended fugal section and an imposing, gruff close. You can't believe that it's not better known. Nothing else on this disc is quite so startling, but there are some wonderful surprises. Like the two-piano transcriptions of the Tallis Fantasia and Greensleeves. The former sounds splendid, the harmonies brought into sharper focus and contrapuntal lines easier to follow. Pianists Mark Bebbington and Rebecca Omordia maintain the original's sense of mystery, giving us a sharp woodcut rather than a hazy watercolour. Bebbington plays the solo pieces. Most significant is Vaughan Williams's last solo piano work, 1947's The Lake in the Mountains. Thoroughly idiomatic in terms of piano writing, it's six minutes of unadulterated loveliness. Other discoveries include a delicious 1920 Suite of Six Short Pieces and A Little Piano Book. The latter sequence suggests an English take on Bartk's Mikrokosmos. Well documented and sumptuously recorded, with attractive sleeve art a winner. ArtsDesk,Feb'17 /// RECORDING OF THE MONTH . An important addition to the Vaughan Williams discography. /// Even the keenest admirers of the music of Vaughan Williams (such as this reviewer) would not make the claim that his piano music is among his most distinctive work, but it's certainly easy on the ear./// In terms of rigour this is writing of absolute mastery more than that the material is top-notch and full of deeply-felt passion Bebbington and Omordia do it proud and the end result is enthralling, it is well-presented in terms of background and vividly recorded./// Bebbington is wonderfully light-fingered here, as he is in the two short suites. Terrific sound. /// It is honoured by a splendid performance, this is a remarkably successful arrangement. A fine recording quality ensures that all lovers of British music should have this./// Smaller pleasures trickle from the the two pedagogical sets of miniatures, but Bebbington crafts each piece tenderly. An essential disc for Vaughan Williams fans and curio hunters./// --MusicWeb,Mar'17/// Classical CD Choice, May'17/// Classical Source, July'17/// International Piano,July'17/// Musical Opinion, July'17/// BBC Music Magazine, July'17 Shipping Shipping is free for all customers in Australia. Your package will be safely taken care of & posted from England by means of Priority Airmail, which is air freighted to your nearest Australia Post Distribution Center (Sydney, Melbourne, Brisbane, or Perth), from where they are delivered to your address by Australia Post. Returns and refunds We operate a 30 day money back guarantee. If you are unhappy with the product for whatever reason, please contact us to arrange a return and refund. As shipping costs are not retrievable, we are unable to refund shipping costs. Feedback We use an automated eBay feedback response system. If you are happy with the product, please leave positive feedback and we will automatically leave positive feedback for you. 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Price: 31.88 AUD

Location: Priority Airmail from England

End Time: 2024-11-30T19:51:45.000Z

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