Curzon Plays Rawsthorne - New Transfer

This is a favorite recording that I have presented before. A request for a reup provided the impetus for a new transfer and scans - far superior to those I produced previously. (May 2023 note: this has now been remastered in ambient stereo).

The English composer Alan Rawsthorne wrote this concerto for the 1951 Festival of Britain, and while it is sometimes denigrated as lightweight, I prefer to think of that quality as a virtue. This is an immediately arresting recording in which pianist Clifford Curzon and the London Symphony effortlessly produce a magical atmosphere. Such things happen rarely, and when they do, they should be celebrated.

The cover shows the principals in the recording, who also were involved in the first performance. Curzon is standing on the left. Conductor Malcolm Sargent is at center and the composer is seated at his left. LSO leader George Stratton is hovering. (Color version below.)

I should add that the labels and the Michael Gray discography entry specify Anatole Fistoulari as the conductor, but the LSO discography confirms that Sargent was in charge.

This recording was made in the Kingsway Hall on October 29, 1951. The sound is very good.

Curzon Plays Rawsthorne

Alan Rawsthorne's second piano concerto is not the most popular music - and this record not in the best shape, as you can perhaps tell from the tattered, dirty cover. (I think I plucked it out of a "take one for free" bin outside a record store.)

But it is just great, to my ears anyway. Rawsthorne's mid-century modern music (think an English version of Prokofiev or Bartok, only not as striking) blooms when performed by the magically talented Clifford Curzon. (That's him standing on the left.)

He is also very well served by conductor Malcolm Sargent (center) and the London Symphony (leader George Stratton is hovering). If by process of elimination, you deduced that the composer is seated at the right, you are correct.

Rawsthorne wrote this piece for the 1951 Festival of Britain. Many other British composers also contributed works for that celebration.

The concerto has had, I believe, three more modern recordings. But I don't think they could be better than this one - I have one of them and know it isn't. This particular recording was made in the now-demolished Kingsway Hall, and the lovely bloom on the sound glows through the surface noise and rustle.

NEW TRANSFER