Bliss: Piano Sonata

“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.” BBC Music Magazine, 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.” Gramophone Magazine, July 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.” MusicWeb International, June 2012

“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” The Guardian, 26th April 2012 ***

“Concerto for Two pianos is the most lively, attractive work on the disc, full of quick, spiky wit and delight on colour, all well brought out by Donohoe and Roscoe” BBC Music Magazine

“In recent times Bliss's swaggering Piano Concerto (written in 1938-9 for Solomon) has found a champion in Peter Donohoe, and it's good that he's been able to set down his powerful interpretation as part of Naxos's British Piano Concertos series. As those thunderous octaves at the outset demonstrate, Bliss's bravura writing holds no terrors for Donohoe and he generates a satisfying rapport with David Lloyd-Jones and the RSNO. Theirs is a beautifully prepared and attentive reading which grips from start to finish.
The bittersweet central Adagietto casts an especially potent spell, while both outer movements harness blistering virtuosity to supple affection. All told, a worthy modern counterpart to the thrilling historic displays from Solomon and Mewton-Wood.
No less compelling is the buoyant account of the Concerto for Two Pianos: an infectiously enjoyable, single-movement work that began life in 1921 as a Concerto for Piano, Tenor and Strings (that same year, Bliss embarked on his Colour Symphony, of which there are fleeting echoes here). The present revision dates from 1950; 18 years later, Bliss overhauled the piece one last time for the three-hand partnership of Phyllis Sellick and Cyril Smith. As in the Piano Concerto, the recording's a touch bright and clangorous, but the ear soon adjusts.
No such technical qualms surround Donohoe's intelligent and accomplished performance of the Sonata composed in 1952 for Noel Mewton- Wood. With his commanding presence and rich tonal palette, Donohoe again exhibits a remarkable empathy with Bliss's red-blooded inspiration. This rewarding Naxos disc deserves every success.” Gramophone Classical Music Guide, 2010