(Leader, Paul Beard ): conductor: Sir Adrian Boult. Clifford Curzon (piano). Concert given in collaboration with Harold Holt
Part 1
John Ireland's Piano Concerto is one of the finest of our time. Its musical beauty and romantic expression may not be so apparent at a first hearing as in the concertos of Tchaikovsky and Rachmaninoff, but are nevertheless apparent to the careful listener. There could be nothing more characteristic of Ireland's style than this work with its contrasts of aggressiveness and lyrical feeling.
The first and third movements exploit both the percussive and sostenuto qualities of the piano with impressive and beautiful effect. Although Ireland makes use of ornamentation and bravura in his piano writing, such devices arise only from the actual musical content and are not merely inserted for the purpose of producing virtuoso fireworks. The orchestral texture is characterised by its exceptional clarity and restraint. and every effect of colour is calculated with unerring precision. For beauty of line and emotional warmth the slow movement perhaps reaches the highest flights. Note the opening long melody, tenderly harmonised for divided strings, which is then continued by the piano with characteristic rhythmic freedom. — Ralph Hill From the Royal Albert Hall, London