Stanley Kubrick’s 2001: A Space Odyssey may have propelled Strauss’s tone-poem into the stratosphere, but there’s another 35 minutes of glorious orchestral writing to discover once past the shattering evocation of a sunrise. And late-romantic virtuosity is balanced by the witty virtuosity of the programme’s opener, Poul Ruders’ Concerto in Pieces, a Â鶹Éç commission from 1995 prompted by the tercentenary of Purcell’s death and the 50th anniversary of the premiere of Britten’s Young Person’s Guide (based on a Purcell theme). Ruders writes for the orchestra with astonishing confidence and delight. In between, Â鶹Éç Symphony Orchestra Principal Trumpet Alan Thomas and the young Uzbek pianist Behzod Abduraimov give us Shostakovich’s sparkling First Piano Concerto from 1933.
