Page 514 - Liverpool Philharmonic 22-23 Season Coverage Book

(b.1982) is a bassist in Kremerata Baltica and his compositions are much more experimental,
involving electronic sounds, always finding new and unexpected sonorities and contrasts. Of the
two older composers, Plakidis inhabits that world where you can't tell if he is giving us a genuine
folk melody or Stravinsky. Pelēcis is more of a classicist: he has written several armfuls of
academic papers on counterpoint. Here, however, the results are heart-on-sleeve: "Vientuļā
kalla" could be an encore for a string orchestra to play, or provide classy relaxation on a Classic
FM playlist. The last track, the langorous "Kosmejas skumjas" (Cosmeia's sadness) is dreamlike
and gorgeous with Kremer as soloist and the surprising presence of a vibraphone as the
contrasting melodic voice. Sebastian Scotney

Maconchy, Lutyens & Wallen: Works for Piano and Orchestra (Resonus)

The piano concerto since Beethoven has often been a muscular affair, dramatising a contest
between orchestra and soloist. These four pieces show composers – who all happen to be British
women – offering different approaches to this structural dynamic, with very entertaining and
engaging results. Elizabeth Maconchy (1907-1994) is someone I have been listening to
increasingly in recent times, and her Dialogue of 1941 encapsulates in its title the central idea of