STRAVINSKY: COMPLETE MUSIC FOR PIANO AND ORCHESTRA
Steven Osborne (
Piano), BBC Scottish SO/Ilan Volkov
Hyperion CDA 67870
The Soviet Union’s stance on the Berne Convention made it difficult in the 1920s for Stravinsky to collect royalties on his most successful works. Writing music for himself to play brought performance fees as well as royalties.
The Concerto for
Piano and Wind Instruments
(1923-4) has a highly-stylised, dryish, neo-classical exuberance. The
Capriccio
(1928-9) lets formality slip by shifting in and out of popular idioms with beguiling, will-o’-the-wisp-like freedom. The much-later
Movements
(1958-9) are from the chameleon-like composer’s serial phase. Steven Osborne’s agreeable performances are coupled with the
Concerto in D for Strings
, an arrangement of the
Song of the Volga Boatmen
, and the
Canon (on a Russian Popular Tune)
of 1965.
