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This BBC Lunchtime concert brought together two exciting young British musicians in a programme where they took turns to take the lead, and what playing they treated us to.

The Rachmaninov is, of course, better known in its orchestral version but the composer made this version for two pianos at the same time as he made the orchestral score and it is true piano music – one is never wishing for the colour of instrumentation so easily does the music fall under the fingers and with playing of such high calibre as this there was an abundance of shading available for us to enjoy. I was especially impressed with the tone colour employed by Crawford-Phillips in the second subject of the first movement – the tune given to the saxophone in the orchestral version – it was warm and fluid, with such an easy feel and restrained use of rubato. There was a marvellous swagger to the waltz and the crazy, almost out of control, finale, was very well realised by the players as the music careers towards the apocalypse, and the unceremonious snuffing out of the work. This is real piano music and it couldn’t find two better advocates as we had today.

The two piano version of Le Sacre du Printemps is, for me, less successful. This is a work which relies, rather too heavily I feel, on the extrovert use of the orchestra to fully make its effect and stripping the music of its clothing leaves a torso which desperately needs covering. For instance there are passages solely for the two sets of timpani which simply don’t work on piano – it’s just a mess of sound with neither the necessary power or clear articulation. It is the quieter, calmer, moments which worked well on the keyboard and the opening sections of both parts were particularly magical. Don’t get me wrong, Moore and Crawford-Phillips gave a superb performance but I found myself wishing I was listening to Ravel’s marvellous, and subtle, transcription of Debussy’s Nocturnes. But this is purely a personal view and I cannot fault, and, indeed, would not wish to, the fine advocacy of these two young men who played as if possessed!

Whatever my reservations about Le Sacre du Printemps this was a cracking show which was excellent in every way and it should not be missed when it is broadcast on

BBC Radio 3 on 25 February.

Bob Briggs

MusicWeb International - February 2009

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'Detlev Glanert's Double Concerto offered a level of fantasy and exhilaration hard to find in contemporary music. Old-world appurtenances fragment as he whisks us on a journey through space - to Mars. The seed material is a little scale in thirds, running up and down, which Glanert the magician turns it into a pulsing particle of matter, constantly mutating and exploding. Moore and Crawford-Phillips proved ideal spacemen, with Brabbins and the orchestra riding alongside. This was a concert worth paying good money for.'

THE TIMES, March 2008

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“Detlev Glanert ‘s Double Concerto , deftly and dexterously, premiered by pianists Philip Moore and Simon Crawford-Phillips , was an overt celebration of the grand Romantic tradition , specifically the Russian tradition, and, precisely Prokofiev’s second and third concertos and Rachmaninov’s first three. Great fun, brilliantly written and hugely effective concert piece in it’s own right.”

THE HERALD, March 2008

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'Real magic summoned from 176 keys - It's a striking image, seeing the stage set ready for a two-piano recital: two huge shining monsters locked head-to-head, two fearsome rows of 88 teeth, legs firmly planted. Yet the medium is one of great empathy and trust, and composers have often confided their most intimate thoughts to it - particularly so when the music was written for themselves to perform with someone special.

Mozart's D major Sonata is such a work, premiered by the composer himself and one of his most gifted young lady pupils. Far more than a mere display-piece, it drew from its creator some of his most profound, sophisticated effects, interchanges rippling deliciously between the pianists. As they did on Friday, when Simon Crawford-Phillips and Philip Moore delighted a Bromsgrove Concerts audience with an absolutely gorgeous programme.

They actually began at one piano with Schubert's haunting late F minor Fantasia for piano duo, giving it a sense of numbed desolation which brought it close to the world of its contemporary Winterreise. The tonal colouring which is such a feature of these young men's partnership here made subtle points of the composer's harmonic richness.

At the other end of this rewarding evening their colouring was deployed in almost orchestral terms in a driving, physically punishing account of Stravinsky's Rite of Spring (perhaps those two monsters engaging after all), well-structured and constantly exciting.'

The Birmingham Post - February 2007

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“Brahms' Sonata in F minor Op.34b, was a revelation; the two piano version has a vivid energy and rich texture which the seamless synergy of these two players drew out to maximum effect.”

The Scotsman - September 2004

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“A bonus in this concert was the piquant, spirited playing of Stravinsky's Concerto for Two Pianos – a real shot of adrenalin.”

The Daily Telegraph (Prom debut) - August 2001

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“Live music gave the kind of oomph and presence you just don't get from a disc. Crawford-Phillips and Moore were the 20 fingers of steel.”

The Independant (Sadler's Wells) - November 2000

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“They played Schubert's Variations on an Original Theme with skill and variety, the last variation springing off the keyboard into thunderous applause; later his Fantasie in F minor with profound understanding of its angry power.”

Evening Standard (Wigmore debut) - May 1999