More than a rhapsody: Jeremy Denk and Britten Sinfonia
Jeremy Denk and Britten Sinfonia
Milton Court
Stalls T22, £15
27 February 2018
Barbican page
Programme:
Byrd/Gesualdo/Monterverdi arr. Denk Motets
Stravinsky Concerto for Piano and Wind Instruments
Nancarrow Selection of piano solos
Milhaud La Création du Monde
Gershwin Rhapsody in Blue (original jazz band version)
Part of me thinks the Barbican did wrong to describe this erudite, complex and personal programme as ‘Rhapsody in Blue with Jeremy Denk’. But on the other hand the Gershwin was one of the programme’s most intriguing elements. Could this be the context in which I felt Rhapsody as a whole lived up to its wonderful opening?
No, as it turned out, it couldn’t, and as a result the evening had for me a rather damp ending, albeit one performed with all the precision and vigour Denk and the Britten Sinfonia brought to everything else. I should say that of my fellow audience members I couldn’t see any who shared my corner of dampness so I might have only myself and my Gershwin issue to blame.
While I may not have found anything new to peak my interest in Rhapsody, up until that point there was plenty to keep me going in Denk’s explorations and juxtapositions. The highlight for me was a small suite of Nancarrow piano works which Denk performed with a hard-edged brilliance alive to each work’s kooky character – but in fact a certain air of steely ambition and ultra-quick responsivity was common to every piece and to the programming itself, making for a concert that was as briskly thought-provoking as it was frankly impressive.
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