Orchestral Award John Wilson

Dutilleux

Le Loup; Oboe Sonata*; Flute Sonatine*; Sarabande et Cortège* *(orch. Hesketh) Soloists; Sinfonia of London/john Wilson Chandos CHSA 5263

It was an old friend who first recommended Dutilleux to conductor John Wilson (above): ‘I remember Richard Rodney Bennett telling me he was the greatest (then) living composer and urged me to listen to him; that’s what got me started.’

Dutilleux’s rarely recorded 1953 ballet score Le Loup is at the heart of this award-winning disc. Indeed, this album is actually the work’s first recording by a non-french ensemble – a tantalising opportunity for the conductor. ‘I’d heard an old, slightly abridged recording of it, and I just thought, “Why has nobody done this?” I just felt I had to do it.’

Wilson turned to Kenneth Hesketh, an old college friend, to help flesh out the album, as he recalls. ‘Ken studied with Dutilleux in Paris, and four or five years ago he orchestrated some piano music of his for a concert. I wondered if he’d fancy turning his hand to the three wind pieces. They always seemed absolutely ideal for orchestral treatment.’

After previous success with Korngold and Respighi, this is the third year in a row that Wilson and the Sinfonia of London have won the Orchestral Award. So what’s it like to be back again? ‘I’m sort of surprised, but we’ve built up quite a hard-core following: I get a lot of people messaging me and emailing. Ultimately, the composer and the audience are the two most important things, aren’t they?’ Michael Beek