That the opening chords of Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart's Don Giovanni and William Sterndale Bennett's Piano Concerto No. 1 are nearly the same is not especially unusual. After all, both works are in D minor. But that both works should continue in the same highly dramatic manner with strings slashing, drums crashing, and trumpets blasting gives the game away. For all his youthful talent and tremendous skill and fluency, Bennett is essentially an imitative, not an original composer. Even the more mature Piano Concert No. 3 in C minor sounds less like an individual work than an excellent reproduction of Mendelssohn's style and manner. Certainly, there are pleasures to be taken from these works, especially in these dedicated performances by pianist Malcolm Binns with Nicholas Braithwaite conducting the London Philharmonic. The forms are always adeptly handled. The themes are often quite appealing. The rhythms, particularly at fast tempos, are irresistible. The keyboard writing is expertly virtuosic. Binns is an impressive soloist who makes the best case for the music and Braithwaite and the London players give him all the support he and the music need to succeed. That there's not more to the music is regrettable, but what there is will be of interest to fans of Mozart and Mendelssohn. Lyrita's sound is characteristically clean, clear, warm, and honest.
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