Alessandro Taverna rules the waves in Rome

Michele Mariotti and Alessandro Taverna play Britten Piano Concerto op 13 on Good Friday in Rome.
An early work written in 1938 receiving its first performance from the composer himself at the Proms under Sir Henry Wood and in the revised 1946 version Noel Newton-Wood (a name unjustly forgotten).
In 1939 Britten and Pears left for America with the air of war becoming ever more apparent in Europe.
It was revived in 1965 for Sviatoslav Richter who thanks to Britten was allowed out of Russia to take part in his Aldeburgh Festival where he and Rostropovich were regular visitors up to Britten’s early death in 1976.
His simple tombstone in the graveyard of Aldeburgh is a fitting tribute to one of the most important composers of the twentieth century.

Read more here at Christopher Axworthy’s blog