Output details

Benjamin Godard: Piano Concerto No. 2, Op. 148; Fantaisie Persane, Op. 152. CD recording: Victor Sangiorgio (piano), Royal Scottish National Orchestra, cond. Martin Yates

This performance research output, paired with Sangiorgio_02, presents world premiere recordings of two significant works from the late romantic French piano concerto repertory by Benjamin Godard (1849–95), of whose output Sangiorgio is currently making a research specialism, in turn mapping on to the current of French music research at the Conservatoire. The CD is part of an ongoing collaboration between Sangiorgio, the conductor Martin Yates, and the Royal Scottish National Orchestra, with the recording label Dutton Epoch. Their association brings to the public, as well as to other researchers and performers, fresh insights into late nineteenth-century French musical culture, and its ambivalent relationship with the Germanic symphonic, and virtuosic Lisztian, traditions; such considerations significantly informed Sangiorgio’s research process in terms of style, interpretation, historical background and technique, and the results present for the first time a rigorously executed and original examination of a still neglected composer who is arguably the equal of any of his contemporaries in the medium. The rare performing materials were sourced from the Edwin A. Fleisher Collection, Philadelphia.

Works contained: Piano Concerto No. 2, Op. 148; Fantaisie Persane, Op. 152.