Théodore Dubois (1837-1924) never enjoyed great success in his lifetime, despite rising to the directorship of the Paris Conservatoire. His music – beautifully crafted, highly tuneful and harmonically daring – gains a new stature here in the mercurial hands of Cédric Tiberghien and Andrew Manze. The robust, single-movement 1876 Concerto-capriccioso has more than a dash of Mendelssohn, while the 1898 second piano concerto feels like an imaginative distillation of Grieg, Chopin, Liszt and Saint-Saëns. It's not until we hear the Suite for piano and string orchestra, a wonderfully sprightly piece from 1917, that the true voice of Dubois really comes through – though by then he was 80 years old.
Dubois: Piano Concertos – review
Stephen Pritchard
Cédric Tiberghien (piano), Scottish Symphony Orchestra/Manze
(Hyperion)
(Hyperion)
Contributor
Stephen Pritchard
Stephen Pritchard has written on classical music for most of his 45 years in journalism. He was the Observer's first readers' editor, and prior to that was a managing editor and production editor
Stephen Pritchard
The GuardianTramp
