"Hammond brings out the best in the piece, giving it energy, gumption and a suitably acerbic edge." — Jessica Duchen
This is a valuable album indeed. It consists of three somewhat neglected 20th-century British works for piano and orchestra; each is ripe for rediscovery and could prove rewarding for performers and audiences in the concert hall. They receive fine performances here from the enterprising and intelligent soloist Clare Hammond, beautifully accompanied by the BBC Symphony Orchestra under George Vass.
Walton's 19-minute Sinfonia Concertante (1928) is perhaps the least satisfying - it does not always seem more than the sum of its parts - but that is all the more reason to hear it here; Hammond brings out the best in the piece, giving it energy, gumption and a suitably acerbic edge.
Britten's Diversions (1942) presents a different challenge: it is for the pianist's left hand only, written (like concertos by Ravel, Korngold and Prokofiev) for Paul Wittgenstein, whose right arm was amputated after injury in the First World War. A theme and 11 'character' variations, it is packed with invention, atmosphere and clever writing for the piano, with which instrument Britten had a complex and possibly underrated relationship.
To round off, the biggest of the three is the Tippett Piano Concerto (premiered in 1956), in which the composer reinvented the Beethovenian concerto model, envisaging the piano as equal partner to the orchestra instrumentalists. The music itself veers between the patchily poetic and the slighlty bonkers, much in the spirit of The Midsummer Marriage. Hammond and Vass rise to all its challenges, making a strong and spirited case for this big, generous-hearted sprawl.