Benjamin returned to the Barbican last week for Britten's Piano Concerto with Elim Chan and the BBC Symphony Orchestra. The concert will be broadcast on the 4th March on BBC Radio 3 and will be available for catch-up on BBC Sounds. https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/m00288v1
Of the performance, Seen and Heard International noted:
'[The Britten] demands a soloist with dexterity, imagination, and a touch of theatricality – and Benjamin Grosvenor delivered all this in spades. From the first bars of the Toccata, he threw himself into the music with a mixture of technical brilliance and sheer verve, his phrasing taut but nuanced. The Waltz was a masterclass in balance – arch and playful but never descending into parody, the sly inflections giving Britten’s acerbic wit just the right amount of knowing charm. In the Impromptu, often described as the concerto’s beating heart, Grosvenor took a more introspective approach, shaping the lyrical lines with deeply personal tenderness. Then came the final March, which was dispatched with dazzling precision – each passage bristling with vitality, the interplay with the orchestra fizzing with energy. Chan and the BBC SO responded in kind, digging into Britten’s textures with bite and precision, ensuring that the full breadth of the composer’s vivid orchestration was on display. Grosvenor’s encore – a propulsive, rhythmically charged account of the Precipitato from Prokofiev’s Seventh Sonata – reinforced his reputation as a pianist of fearless virtuosity.'
