British Piano Concertos, Vol. 3 Simon Callaghan, BBC National Orchestra of Wales & William Boughton

• Philip Cannon (1929 - 2016): Piano Concertino:
• 1 Cannon: Piano Concertino: I. Allegro molto vivace 05:40
• 2 Cannon: Piano Concertino: II. Andante tranquillo 04:14
• 3 Cannon: Piano Concertino: III. Presto leggiero 03:45
• John Addison (1920 - 1998): Piano Concertino:
• 4 Addison: Piano Concertino: I. Allegro moderato 04:30
• 5 Addison: Piano Concertino: II. Andante grazioso 04:50
• 6 Addison: Piano Concertino: III. Vivace 04:54
• Francis Chagrin (1905 - 1973): Piano Concerto:
• 7 Chagrin: Piano Concerto: I. Risoluto 07:50
• 8 Chagrin: Piano Concerto: II. Lento. Molto tranquillo 08:10
• 9 Chagrin: Piano Concerto: III. Allegro vivace 08:01
• John Addison: Conversation Piece:
• 10 Addison: Conversation Piece: Allegro moderato (1) 01:56
• 11 Addison: Conversation Piece: Andante commodo 04:18
• 12 Addison: Conversation Piece: Allegro moderato (2) 02:10
• 13 Addison: Conversation Piece: Adagio 03:28
• 14 Addison: Conversation Piece: Allegro 02:43
• Total Runtime 01:06:29

Info for British Piano Concertos, Vol. 3

Philip Cannon’s Concertino for Piano and Strings (1951) dates from his formative years. It was written for the Petersfield Festival, where it was premiered on 27 January 1951 by soloist Joseph Cooper, with the Petersfield Orchestra conducted by Kathleen Merritt. This lively, neo-classical piece has achieved over a thousand performances internationally. Though John Addison’s Concertino for Piano and Orchestra is, for the most part, couched in a light-hearted language, it is the product of a serious, and unfailingly inventive, approach to keyboard and orchestral writing. Speaking of the work to Leslie Ayre of the London Evening News, the composer remarked that, ""it is a real concerto in the full sense of the word… I would not be ashamed to show the work to any first-class pianist."" Francis Chagrin maintained an intensely practical and unpretentious attitude towards his own craft, observing that, ""My music is not for first performances – it is just to be played."" His Piano Concerto was first performed by soloist Franz Osborn, with the London Symphony Orchestra, conducted by the composer, at an SPNM Experimental Rehearsal held at the Royal College of Music on 4 February 1944. Conversation Piece by John Addison was written in 1958 to a commission from the BBC Concert Orchestra for that year’s British Light Music Festival. John Addison felt that, by the late-1950s, too great a divide had opened up between serious and light music: “Concertgoers think contemporary music is so alarmingly serious that when confronted with a mildly witty turn of phrase, they assume something has gone wrong. I remember the astonished sigh of relief when, in the course of introducing one of my chamber works, I told the audience I would not mind if they smiled.” In Conversation Piece, Addison exploits to the full his talent to amuse and divert.

Simon Callaghan, piano
BBC National Orchestra of Wales
William Boughton, conductor

Simon Callaghan
performs internationally as a soloist and chamber musician, in parallel with his highly successful career as a recording artist. In response to regular performances at the UK’s major concert halls, international tours to Asia, North America and Europe, and an extensive, acclaimed discography, Callaghan has developed a wide following. A favourite performer at the globally renowned Husum Festival of Piano Rarities in Germany, Callaghan’s recent sell-out concert was praised by VAN Magazine as a ‘cleverly curated recital full of discoveries’ and by the Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung as ‘technically brilliant’.

His recital partners have included Adrian Brendel, Sheku Kanneh-Mason, Feng Ning, Raphael Wallfisch, Samuel West, Prunella Scales and Timothy West. He is a founding member of the London Piano Quartet and has a duo partnership with BBC Young Musician of the Year 2020 String Category winner Coco Tomita.

Callaghan’s repertoire includes over seventy concertos, highlights of the standard solo and chamber works of the nineteenth and twentieth centuries, and much that is rare and unexplored. One cornerstone of his work is a commitment to British music, and he has now reached the third volume of a series presenting premiere recordings of British concertos with the BBC National Orchestra of Wales (Lyrita). Callaghan has also made first recordings of the complete piano music by Rebecca Clarke, George Dyson and William Busch. The present release is Callaghan’s fourth contribution to Hyperion’s celebrated Romantic Piano Concerto series. His first Hyperion album of concertos by Roger Sacheverell Coke with the BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestra and Martyn Brabbins formed part of his successful PhD project at the Royal Northern College of Music.

Callaghan has also recorded for Orchid Classics, Danacord, Somm, Resonus, Convivium and EM Records. His reputation and experience in chamber music led to his accepting the role of Director of Music at London’s celebrated Conway Hall, where he curates one of the longest-running series of its kind in Europe. He was elected a Steinway Artist in 2012.

Booklet for British Piano Concertos, Vol. 3