On 11 April Alexandra Dariescu joins Sakari Oramo and the BBC Symphony Orchestra for Doreen Carwithen’s Concerto for Piano and Strings at the Barbican. The performance of the 29-minute piece follows its German premiere on 28 March, which she gave with the Hofer Symphoniker conducted by Martijn Dendievel. The concerto appears alongside Malcolm Arnold’s Symphony No.5 and Vaughan Williams’ Serenade to Music.
The concerto follows a traditional three-movement pattern and sees Carwithen blend lithe neoclassicism with lyrical effusiveness. ‘Allegro assai’ begins with a muscular back-and-forth between soloist and ensemble, with rugged, rhythmic gestures, before broader, more sweeping melodies come to fore later. ‘Lento’ begins with a gentle underlay of murmuring, muted strings and solo violin in dialogue with the piano, in a movement with a more pronounced Romantic character than those flanking it. The finale – ‘Moderato e deciso ma con moto’ – is in vigorous triple-time. A flamboyant cadenza brings the movement to a head, succeeded by a subdued, lyrical sequence for strings whose intensity grows and bursts forth in a lively coda.
Carwithen’s concerto premiered in a broadcast in 1951 and received its first live performance at the 1952 BBC Proms, with Iris Loveridge as soloist joined by the London Symphony Orchestra and conductor Trevor Harvey. Music historian Leah Broad, whose acclaimed study Quartet provides a rich account of the composer’s life and career, notes that the concerto received an effusive reception following its debut.
25 March saw the release of the third commercial recording to date of the concerto, from Samantha Ege and Lontano Orchestra, conducted by Odaline de la Martinez – a keen reflection of the work’s significance in Carwithen’s output as well as its importance in British twentieth-century musical history. Read about the recording, released by Lorelt, in Pianist magazine here.
Howard Shelley previously recorded the work with Richard Hickox and the London Symphony Orchestra in 1997 for Chandos; in 2013 it was released on SOMM by Mark Bebbington and Innovation Chamber Ensemble, whose players were drawn from the City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra, conducted by Richard Jenkinson.
This summer Aura Go will give the first Australian performances of the work with the Melbourne Chamber Orchestra, conducted by Sophie Rowell, at the Melbourne Recital Centre on 10 and 13 July.