Composer: Igor Stravinsky
Performer: Steven Osborne
Orchestra: BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestra
Conductor: Ilan Volkov
Audio CD
Number of Discs: 1
Format: FLAC (tracks)
Label: Hyperion
Size: 916 MB
Recovery: +3%
Scan: yes
01. Song of the Volga Boatmen
Concerto for piano and wind instruments
02. Largo – Allegro – Maestoso
03. Larghissimo
04. Allegro – Agitato – Lento – Stringendo
Capriccio for piano and orchestra
05. Presto
06. Andante rapsodico
07. Allegro capriccioso ma tempo giusto
Movements for piano and orchestra
08. Quaver = 110
09. Crotchet = 52
10. Quaver = 72
11. Quaver = 80
12. Quaver = 104
Concerto in D for string orchestra
13. Vivace
14. Arioso – Andantino
15. Rondo – Allegro
16. Canon on a Russian Popular Tune
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 Concerto for piano and wind … places huge demands on soloist, conductor and also recording engineers, all of whom sail through unscathed by the technical problems and the difficult sonorities’ (Gramophone)
‘With Steven Osborne as soloist, the concertante works are in exceptionally good hands … after the Capriccio’s grandiose opening, Osborne’s tight control of the piano’s insistent, driving textures provides a firm foundation for the opening movement’s unexpected humanity and charm’ (BBC Music Magazine)
‘This superb disc on which Steven Osborne manifests both his rhythmic élan and his refined sense of tonal shading, underpinning the performances with virile energy … the string-orchestra Concerto in D and two pithy orchestral miniatures complete an outstanding album’ (The Daily Telegraph)
‘Osborne and Volkov judge them perfectly—keeping the Concerto, as well as the slightly later Capriccio, on a tight rein, and threading a lucid path through the thickets and intricacies of the Movements’ (The Guardian)
‘A wonderfully ebullient, rhythmically alert performance, and the recorded sound captures the work’s utterly individual sonorities very well, with crystal clarity. Volkov’s conducting has a drive and energy that matches Osborne’s thrilling performance of the solo part … the Capriccio is only rarely heard in the concert hall, but it deserves to be played much more often, and from Osborne it receives the most persuasive advocacy. I don’t think I’ve heard a more immediately engaging recording of the piece … the notes by Charles M Joseph are a mine of information and the recorded sound is excellent. Philippe Entremont and Stravinsky himself are impressive in the Concerto for piano and wind but Osborne and Volkov are lighter on their toes and theirs is a really splendid performance (I can’t think of a better one on CD)’ (International Record Review)
‘This fine Stravinsky series … Steven Osborne plays all with diamantine brilliance’ (The Sunday Times)
‘The outstanding work here is the Concerto for piano and wind instruments, played by Osborne in a way that finds wit in the rhythmic quirks while lending substance to the music’s 18th-century references … alert accompaniments from the BBC SSO under Ilan Volkov’ (Financial Times)