Stravinsky: Les Noces, Oedipus Rex

“Ekaterina Semenchuk...[is] the contralto with the biggest range and lustre since Bernstein's Troyanos, and Sergey Semishkur's Oedipus blends clarion authority with youthful pathos...all the right musical phrases shine through. Even Bernstein's recording can't match it for earthy authenticity.” --BBC Music Magazine, August 2010 *****

“Ekaterina Semenchuk (Jocasta) sounds plummy at first but she and Sergei Semishkur (Oedipus) bring electrifying intensity to the duet where they realise their guilt. Overall this is a double-bill of at times shattering impact.” --Gramophone Magazine, Awards Issue 2010

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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 élan 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 ***

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