Benjamin Godard - Piano Concerto No. 1; etc. (Victor Sangiorgio; Martin Yates)

Information

Composer: Benjamin Godard

• Piano Concerto No. 1 in A minor, Op. 31
• Introduction & Allegro for piano & orchestra, Op. 49
• Symphonie orientale, Op. 84

Victor Sangiorgio, piano

Royal Scottish National Orchestra

Martin Yates, conductor

Date: 2011

Label: Dutton

https://www.duttonvocalion.co.uk/proddetail.php?prod=CDLX7274

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Review

The French composer Benjamin Godard (1849‑95) is remembered today for the Berceuse from his opera Jocelyn (Bing Crosby made a memorable recording of it with a violin obbligato played by Jascha Heifetz). It is clear from this, his works for violin and orchestra (Chloë Hanslip on Naxos, 4/08), his piano trios (Trio Parnassus on MDG), other recent recordings and the present disc that here was a composer of Mendelssohnian facility, lyricism and charm.

The four-movement Piano Concerto No 1 (1875) is a case in point, with an agreeably virtuoso solo part, strong themes and some beefy orchestral writing (the RSNO’s fruity brass and enthusiastic percussion departments have plenty to do). The same is true of the Introduction and Allegro (1880) with its amusingly camp finale. Lovers of Saint-Saëns, Litolff and their ilk need not hesitate. Victor Sangiorgio, you feel, has had these works in his fingers for some time, while the equally infectious vitality that Martin Yates brings to proceedings adds to the impression of everyone having a thoroughly enjoyable time. Dutton’s sound (Michael Ponder and Dexter Newman in Glasgow’s Henry Wood Hall) is more spacious and resonant than the drier, cooler sound picture preferred by Hyperion for its Romantic Piano Concerto series.

Had they thought of recording Godard, however, Hyperion would surely have included Godard’s other piano concerto (No 2 in G minor) rather than the (albeit) entertaining Symphonie orientale (1884). Hardly a symphony, these five short verse-inspired tone-poems representing Arabia, China, Greece, Persia and Turkey might well be mistaken for prescient, deftly scored works by German, Ketèlbey or Coates. An altogether delightful disc of world-premiere recordings.

-- Jeremy Nicholas, Gramophone

More reviews:
https://www.musicweb-international.com/classrev/2011/Oct11/godardorientale_duttoncdlx7274.htm

https://www.npr.org/sections/deceptivecadence/2011/10/31/141879873/classical-lost-and-found-benjamin-godards-orchestral-showpieces

https://www.amazon.com/Godard-Piano-Concerto-Victor-Sangiorgio/dp/B005FM84AQ

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Benjamin Godard (18 August 1849 – 10 January 1895) was a French violinist and composer. He studied at the Conservatoire de Paris under Henri Vieuxtemps (violin) and Napoléon Henri Reber (harmony). Godard's long list of works includes eight operas, five symphonies, two piano concertos, three string quartets, four sonatas for violin and piano, a sonata for cello and piano, two piano trios, and various other orchestral works. Godard was opposed to the music of Richard Wagner and also highly critical of Wagner's antisemitism. His style was more in tune with those of Felix Mendelssohn and Robert Schumann.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Benjamin_Godard

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Victor Sangiorgio is an Australian classical pianist. He was born in Italy, grew up and trained in Australia, resides in London and performs internationally. By the age of nineteen he had been a soloist with all the major Australian orchestras and had recorded and broadcast extensively on radio and television. He was a finalist in the 1978 ABC Instrumental and Vocal competition and the 1988 Sydney International Piano Competition. Sangiorgio has given masterclasses in many cities and has also been Visiting Lecturer in Piano at the Royal Conservatoire of Scotland, the Colchester Institute, and the Royal Birmingham Conservatoire.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Victor_Sangiorgio

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Martin Yates (born in London) is a British conductor. He studied at the Royal College of Music and Trinity College of Music. Yates made his conducting debut in 1983, and has since appeared regularly at several major opera houses including Paris, Vienna, Dresden, Copenhagen, Helsinki, Stockholm, Oslo, Naples, Rome and Tokyo. From 1994 to 1999, he was the principal conductor of the National Symphony Orchestra in London, and from 2010 to 2014, principal conductor of the Symphony Orchestra of the Cambridge University Music Society. Yates has made over 100 recordings, including many world premiers.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Martin_Yates

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