Samantha Ward / Murray McLachlan / Royal Liverpool Philharmonic Orchestra / Charles Peebles DORA BRIGHT AND RUTH GIPPS Piano Concertos

Another disc of real artistic merit and technical and musical quality from Somm. For the curious, the "jump out" name here is that of Dora Bright. Two substantial concertante scores are presented of music by a composer whom even the most assiduous collector of British music is unlikely to know.
Certainly, I had never even heard the name. Robert Matthew-Walker's liner note is as detailed as it is enthusiastic and all the detail given here is drawn from his essay. As a pianist Bright was clearly a very talented player – performing at the Covent Garden Promenade concerts by the time she was 20 and even playing for Liszt four years later. The CD liner details various impressive "firsts" that Bright achieved through to the end of the 19^th century. She married an army officer 33 years her senior, which gave her financial security but seems to have caused a falling off in her creativity as both performer and composer. She lived until 1951 but apparently many/most of her scores are lost with the two works presented here among the few surviving examples of her music. (Nick Barnard)