Wiklund: Piano Concertos

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 Sturfält 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.

CDA67828  74 minutes 54 seconds
IRR 'OUTSTANDING' AWARD
‘Really deserves this reappraisal: [Wiklund] has Rachmaninov's talent for big, sweeping statements and Grieg's way with a sweet melody. It's a winning combination, beautifully captured here by Martin ...
‘Wiklund's concertos … stand up to the finest of competition. Whilst they are rooted in a late-Romantic style, there are also shades of Rachmaninov and Medtner, the exuberant virtuosity of York B ...