This CD marks the beginning of a new Arthur Bliss series and includes premiere recordings of Valses Fantastiques, Intermezzo and May-Zeeh. Mark Bebbington is one of today’s most strikingly individual pianists. His most recent release of works of works by Mathias and Vaughan Williams (SOMM246) was unanimously critically acclaimed; “Bebbington does both composers proud on this excellent disc." BBC Music Magazine.
July 2012
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“Bliss aficionados will enjoy this merry rollercoaster of uneven material. It's nonetheless to be hoped that in the next volume, Mark Bebbington's impressive and near-flawless expertise will be deployed in music that's more often worthy of it.”
26th April 2012
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“Bebbington plays both works with great assurance, if not always with the panache that the rather grandiloquent gestures of the sonata need. But he gets right to the emotional heart of the Suite in its third movement, an Elegy dedicated to the memory of Bliss's younger brother who died in the first world war”
July 2012
“None of this may be earth-shatteringly original music but, as presented here, it offers a vivid portrait of one of the most important British composers of his period.”
June 2012
“[Bebbington's] playing is always concentrated, sympathetic and clear...It is probably a wee bit of a cliché to say that I look forward to the next volume: however it would be true.”
Click on any of the works listed above for alternative recordings.
