Following an acclaimed live recording of Michael Tippett’s opera The Midsummer Marriage, this release brings us the London Philharmonic under Edward Gardner in two subsequent works of the composer. They date from a period in the mid-1950s when Tippett’s writing was undergoing a stylistic change. 

The Piano Concerto grew out of the music of the opera, and shares its magically lyrical and decorative surface, while the Symphony No. 2 represents a move towards a hard-edged, rhythmically tough style that would culminate in his second opera King Priam. The works are literally chronological: Midsummer Marriage (1946–52), Piano Concerto (1953–55), Symphony No. 2 (1956–57), and King Priam (1956–61).

The concerto is a masterpiece, one of the best works of the decade. Tippett’s initial inspiration was the Fourth Piano Concerto of Beethoven, but he wanted to use tone colour rather than thematic material as the driving force, especially in the solo part. The piano plays constantly throughout, producing sprays of arpeggios, scales, and decorative motifs – at times like a...