CD REVIEW - TWO PIANO ALBUMS
UKRAINE A PIANO PORTRAIT
Margaret Fingerhut
SOMMCD 0701 [77:35]

This album, typical of the label's imaginative approach, could be of interest to readers beyond those who love the sound of the well-played piano, as proceeds from sales will be donated to British-Ukrainian Aid. It is a lovingly curated selection of works written between 1877 and 2005 featuring composers from that poor ravaged country of Margaret Fingerhut's grandfather's birth.

The oldest and longest of the eight compositions (17 tracks) is a light hearted Rhapsody on Ukrainian Themes No.2, 'Dumka-Shumka' by Mykola Lysenko (1842-1912) and the most recent: 3 Bagatelles, Op.1 by Valentin Silvestrov (b 1937). Then there are preludes by three other composers: Vasyl Barvinsky (1888-1963), Levko Revutsky (1889-1977) and Boris Lyatoshinsky (1895-1968), the last written at the height of the Second World War. Nocturne-Fantaisie No.4 is by Viktor Kosenko (1896-1938), which Fingerhut says she "felt impelled to include because its hypnotic, feverish repetitions came to haunt me in my dreams".

The melodic opening and closing pieces: Les Rochers d'Outche-Coche – the first of four Sketches of Crimea – and Consolation Op17 No.4, are by Sergei Bortkiewicz (1877-1952), who is described as "greatly significant" in Robert Matthew-Walker's tremendously informative six-paged liner notes. And in her equally interesting three-page introduction the pianist writes of the composer's "endless gift for melody".

Everything is beautifully played on a Steinway Model "D" piano by Margaret Fingerhut, born in London of Ukrainian and Polish ancestry, and described in Gramophone magazine as a pianist of "consummate skill and thrilling conviction". (Her Malcolm Arnold album with violinist Peter Fisher was reviewed here in 2021). She was awarded an MBE in the 2024 New Year Honours in recognition of her services to music and charitable fundraising, including £1000 for each of a grand piano's 88 keys.

STEPHEN HOUGH : PIANO CONCERTO, SONATINA NOSTALGICA & PARTITA
Sir Stephen Hough - The Hallé/Sir Mark Elder
Hyperion CDA 68455 [39:54]

This is an earlier interesting release.

Sir Stephen Hough CBE, born 1961 in Haswell on the Wirral, is a composer, writer and artist best known for being high in the world premier league of classical pianists, with a wide repertoire including light music. (His 'Dream Album' was enthusiastically reviewed here in 2018).

Back in pandemic days he was asked if he would like to write the score for a film about a concert pianist writing a piano concerto. Unfortunately, the film was never made but here is the music in concerto form, called 'The World of Yesterday', with reviewers likening bits of it to Copland, Korngold and, in Gramophone, Fats Waller. It concludes with a sparkling Tarantella appassionata. Two solo piano pieces of 4'58 and 14’07 duration complete the programme. On the evidence of this album – recorded in best Hyperion sound – it would be a shame were another invitation to compose a film score not be forthcoming.

© Peter Burt, April 2025