Stravinsky: Complete music for piano & orchestra

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, July 2013 ****

�Osborne and Volkov tick a major Stravinsky box� --Gramophone Magazine, August 2013

�Osborne plays all with diamantine brilliance.� Sunday Times, 19th May 2013

�Osborne manifests both his rhythmic �lan and his refined sense of tonal shading, underpinning the performances with virile energy...finding a spirited sparring-partner in the BBC Scottish Symphony under Ilan Volkov.� The Telegraph, 29th May 2013

�though they do not manage to make either [concerto] more likable, 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, 30th May 2013 ****

�The outstanding work here is the Concerto for piano and wind instruments (1923-24), played by Osborne in a way that finds wit in the rhythmic quirks while lending substance to the music�s 18th-century references, so that it never sounds dry.� Financial Times, 8th June 2013 ***

Stravinsky: Symphony of Psalms, Concerto for Piano and Wind Instruments

The son of a distinguished Russian singer, Stravinsky spent his earlier years in Russia, either in St Petersburg or, in the summer, at the country estates of his relatives. He studied music briefly with Rimsky-Korsakov but made a name for himself first in Paris with commissions from the impresario Diaghilev, for whom he wrote a series of ballet scores. He spent the years after the Russian Revolution of 1917 in Western Europe and in 1939 moved to the United States of America. There in the post-war years he turned from a style of eclectic neoclassicism to composing in the twelve-note technique propounded by Schoenberg. A versatile composer, inventive in changing styles, he may be seen as the musical counterpart of the painter Picasso.

Stravinsky: Symphony in E flat, Violin Concerto

The son of a distinguished Russian singer, Stravinsky spent his earlier years in Russia, either in St Petersburg or, in the summer, at the country estates of his relatives. He studied music briefly with Rimsky-Korsakov but made a name for himself first in Paris with commissions from the impresario Diaghilev, for whom he wrote a series of ballet scores. He spent the years after the Russian Revolution of 1917 in Western Europe and in 1939 moved to the United States of America. There in the post-war years he turned from a style of eclectic neoclassicism to composing in the twelve-note technique propounded by Schoenberg. A versatile composer, inventive in changing styles, he may be seen as the musical counterpart of the painter Picasso.

Stravinsky: Le sacre du printemps

�the physical impact here of maximum Berlin Philharmonic firepower is part of what the music itself calls for...Compared to the clotted cream sonorities in evidence here, Rattle's CBSO recording is far truer to the music's poised incisiveness and grace. But his new reading of The Rite of Spring with the Berlin Philharmonic is a formidable achievement.� --BBC Music Magazine, May 2013 *****

BBC Music Magazine Orchestral Choice - May 2013

�It�s indecently luxuriant and played with a confidence which almost borders on complacency...This recording is full of...sounds which will have you dusting down your miniature score in disbelief. Rarely has the second half�s intro sounded so decadent and sweaty, and I whooped for joy at hearing a normally inaudible low horn rasp a few minutes near the close.� --The Arts Desk, 6th April 2013

�This is a pretty considerable account of Le Sacre. I think there is, at times, a degree of greater urgency than was the case in 1987 - perhaps the presence of an audience helped; perhaps it�s the fact that an even more experienced Rattle is now at the helm of a virtuoso orchestra...a refined and excellent performance of Apollon Musag�te which benefits not only from the virtuosity of the Berlin string players but also from the fastidious ear of their conductor.� --MusicWeb International, April 2013

Borodin Quartet play Borodin, Stravinsky & Miaskovsky

"Borodin's String Quartet No.1 has been overshadowed by the ultra-tuneful No.2, which is indeed a lyrical masterpiece. It's predecessor is not quite that; then again, the Borodin Quartet's state-of-the-art performance of No.1 here shows that this is a winsome, engaging, far-too-neglected work with some really lovely moments, like the frosted glass sounds that open the Scherzo movement's trio section. Miaskovsky's Quartet No.13 too, is a warmly engaging creation, brimming with rich invention. And as played here in pungent, live-wire style, Stravinsky's one-movement Concertino sounds like the mini masterpiece it is." --Classic FM Magazine July 2010 *****

The acclaimed Borodin String Quartet�s second recording for Onyx. Borodin�s remarkable 1st quartet with its references to Beethoven�s op131 is coupled with Stravinsky�s wonderfully concise Concertino of 1920 and Myaskovsky�s epic 13th quartet.

The Borodin Quartet has been at the very centre of the chamber music world for over 60 years, and has seen several changes in personel during this period. This new Onyx recording is the first to feature the new cellist Vladimir Balshin who replaced Valentin Berlinsky recently.

Stravinsky: Rite of Spring & The Firebird

�Under Sokhiev the Toulouse orchestra plays The Rite with great skill and brilliance making an impressively unified sound. I felt that Sokhiev was somewhat cautious in his approach...[In The Firebird] the Toulouse orchestra under the calm, firm Sokhiev�s direction fare much better. Their playing has an abundance of drama that produces a glorious wash of warm sound.� --MusicWeb International, 17th June 2013

�As for the performances, these are polished and duly exciting...as an imaginative introduction to the world of the ballets, this is a welcome set.� --BBC Music Magazine, May 2013 ****

�Sokhiev's Rite of Spring takes heed of the work's many textural contrasts, with plenty of bite and bounce from the strings in the 'Mystical Circles of the Young Girls' and darkly wailing lower strings in 'Spring Rounds'...I'd call it a driven performance rather than especially elemental� --Gramophone Magazine, February 2013