<<  -- 5 --  Bill Newman    PERFECT BLENDINGS

Piano 40 now have a new CD on sale, Regent Records REGCD194. Produced and engineered by Gary Cole at St George's Bristol on 26 and 27 October 2002, the works by Chapple and Peggie are supplemented by Rory Boyle's All Blether, Richard Nye's 8 'til Late, Charles Camilleri's Divertimento 1 (Hommage à Manuel de Falla), John Paynter's Ouverture d'Urgence and Cecilia McDowall's Piano Forty. In the pianist lineup, Helen Cawthorne replaces Rachel Nadin.

Basically, the Boyle and Nye pieces sound fiendishly difficult with their cross-rhythms. I would literally be shaking in my shoes if I were one of the contestants, but the programme has been finely programmed by the team. They sound just as fresh and stimulating on record as in live concert. Camilleri's Falla 'evocation' has bags of atmosphere, while the combined talents of Peggie, Paynter and McDowall explore the players' tonal palette as well as their rhythmic strengths.

In the main, I have already discussed this repertoire when it appeared in live concert, and I have to impress strongly that the disc is an all-round success. The combined personality of the performers, plus those extra gains of fine microphone placement and editing, should help this disc find its way on to the shelves of all piano buffs.

Isn't it comforting to know that at long last we are given a brief respite from the esoteric creations by Birtwistle, Adès, Turnage, Maxwell-Davies, plus a few other 'nasties'? There are plenty of broadcast spots for promoting the fine music and performances on this compact disc. Sean Rafferty's In Tune, for one!