Buried Treasure

Pianist Sarah Beth Briggs introduces three rarities from her record collection

Gál Cello Concerto, Op. 67

Antonio Meneses (cello); Royal Northern Sinfonia/claudio Cruz

Avie AV2237

My first serious encounter with Hans Gál’s music came when I was asked to read through the cello concerto with Antonio Meneses the night before he recorded it. Playing the orchestral reduction immediately drew me in to Gál’s fine craftsmanship and precision. Meneses is a wonderfully expressive soloist in this rich concerto and I find the tender Andante one of the all-time great cello concerto slow movements.

Rubbra Piano Concerto in G, Op. 55

Denis Matthews (piano); BBC Symphony Orchestra/sir Malcolm Sargent Warner Classics 0290062 This concerto, influenced by the improvisations of Eastern music, has the feel of very large scale chamber music – the piano and orchestra at many times playing almost equal roles. The mood of the work ranges from dark and haunting to impassioned and from serene to ebullient. The captivating soloist here is my late teacher Denis Matthews who gave its first performance.

Hurlstone Trio in G minor for Clarinet, Bassoon and Piano

Victoria Soames (clarinet), Laurence Perkins (bassoon), John Flinders (piano) Clarinet Classics CC0023

Full of glorious melodies and expert use of the warm timbres of the clarinet and bassoon, the piano writing in this wonderful trio feels as if it has a Brahmsian influence. Since this recording, significant work was required to reconstruct it, with the discovery of a fiendish third Scherzo movement and a reordering of the outer movements, but this world premiere recording has a great freshness and delightful playing.

Sarah Beth Briggs’s new album of Brahms and Schumann is out now on Avie Records