Piano Concertos Nos.1, 2, etc : Sturfalt(P)Manze / Helsingborg Symphony Orchestra

The Romantic Piano Concerto 57

Wiklund:
Piano Concerto No. 1 in E minor, Op. 10
Concert-piece for piano and orchestra, Op. 1
Piano Concerto No. 2 in B minor, Op. 17

Martin Sturfalt, piano
Helsingborg Symphony Orchestra / Andrew Manze, conductor

Recording details: September 2010, Helsingborg Concert Hall, Sweden
Produced by Andrew Keener
Engineered by Simon Eadon & Dave Rowell

Volume 57 in Hyperion’s Romantic Piano Concerto series turns up another ‘discovery’: the music of Swedish composer Adolf Wiklund. These little-known but lusciously tuneful works are characterized by big-boned, symphonic gestures reminiscent of Rachmaninov, yet tempered with the Nordic clarity of Grieg. Wiklund’s two piano concertos are central to his output, and in fact they enjoyed considerable popularity in Sweden until as recently as fifty years ago, when modernist sensibilities deemed them unfashionable.

This glittering performance from Martin Sturfalt and the Helsingborg Symphony Orchestra, directed by brilliant violinist-turned-conductor Andrew Manze, is bound to bring this unfairly neglected music back into general currency. ( Hyperion )