Iannis Xenakis contemplated reeds in the wind; Stravinsky pictured a Russia before the dawn of civilisation. But Nature is unstoppable, and both composers unleashed forces beyond the imagination: riotous, explosive masterpieces from opposite ends of the 20th century, using supersized orchestras to redefine the limits of music itself. In Xenakis’s centenary year, Martyn Brabbins and the BBC Symphony Orchestra reap the whirlwind that grew from Stravinsky’s storm. Ravel’s gorgeous, jazz-influenced Piano Concerto appears like an oasis of calm before Jonchaies and The Rite of Spring – though with the ‘astonishing’ (according to Bachtrack) BBC Radio 3 New Generation Artist Tom Borrow as soloist, it should be every bit as gripping. And to begin – a summons by the late, much missed Harrison Birtwistle.
Image: Tom Borrow © Tal Givony
