Stravinsky: Concerto for Piano & Wind Instruments

A new album from the Gramophone Award-winning team of Steven Osborne, the BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestra and Ilan Volkov. Here they present Stravinsky’s complete music for piano and orchestra as a rare complete set, plus the Concerto in D for string orchestra. The taut rhythmic brilliance of this music is perfectly suited to the particular artistry of these performers. Volkov’s mastery of Stravinsky’s neo-classical idiom is clear from the ecstatic critical response to his recordings of many of the composer’s orchestral works.

The expressive range and versatility of the wind ensemble is exemplified in this program from one of the world’s leading ensembles of its kind, which presents classics of the genre alongside new works. Wayne Oquin’s Tower Ascending pulsates with urban power whilst Richard Lorenz explores a web of Latin American music. Michael Tilson Thomas distils old and new perspectives and James Mobberely offers affecting Words of Love. We also hear Copland’s indelible Fanfare for the Common Man, Vaughan Williams’s intricate Toccata Marziale and Stravinsky’s brilliantly virtuosic Concerto.

Since his London debut in 1974, Marios Papadopoulos’s career as pianist and conductor has been world-wide. This electrifying performance was originally recorded and issued on Hyperion Records and its return to the catalogue is warmly received.

These recordings were made in 1958 and 1959.