Bennett: Orchestral Works Vol. 5

John Wilson's series of orchestral works by his mentor and friend Sir Richard Rodney Bennett reaches volume 5 with three works composed between 1973 and 1989. The Concerto for Orchestra was commissioned at the suggestion of Brian Priestman, the British chief conductor of the Denver Symphony Orchestra. Its three-movement structure, ending with a dazzling series of variations, presents the modern orchestra as a virtuoso ensemble. His rarely performed Cello Concerto "Sonnets to Orpheus" forms the centerpiece of the program. Originally commissioned by the Edinburgh International Festival and premiered by Heinrich Schiff, the work was composed during a crisis in the composer's life, when Bennett separated from his partner and left Great Britain to move to New York, where he spent the rest of his life. This recording features the internationally acclaimed Norwegian cellist Jonathan Aasgaard, who is a soloist with the Royal Liverpool Philharmonic and the Sinfonia of London, as well as a cello lecturer at the London Guildhall School of Music and Drama. "Diversions" was commissioned in 1990 by the Haberdashers' Aske's Schools in North London to mark their 300th anniversary. It was first performed by the combined orchestras of all seven schools at a festival concert in the Royal Festival Hall. The completed work is a lavishly colorful collection of symphonic variations on the Scottish folk song "Whistle and I'll come to you, my lad".