Vaughan Williams: Sinfonia Antartica – Andrew Davis

   in Piano International (May, 2018)
Vaughan Williams may not have cared much for it as an instrument but he could certainly write effectively for the piano – as Mark Bebbington and Rebecca Omordia showed last year (SOMMCD 0164, reviewed in IP Jul/ Aug 2017). Chandos’ new disc encapsulates VW’s ambivalence with its main works featuring the piano either as colouristic effect (Sinfonia Antartica) or in a two-for-one reworking (Concerto in C). The Four Last Songs (1954-58) – sung radiantly by the wonderful Roderick Williams – omits the piano entirely in Anthony Payne’s 2013 orchestration!

I first got to know the concerto (1926-31, rev 1933-35) in HMV’s marvellous recording by Vitya Vronsky and Victor Babin with …