Hyperion releases two-disc set of Tchaikovsky piano concertos, featuring Minnesota Orchestra and Stephen Hough

CDs include Tchaikovsky’s three piano concertos and Concert Fantasia, recorded live in concert in 2009; Osmo Vänskä conducts

Album available April 1 in stores and at minnesotaorchestra.org

(March 23, 2010) -- The British record label Hyperion has released a two-CD set of Tchaikovsky’s complete piano-and-orchestra works—three piano concertos and the Concert Fantasia—performed by Grammy Award-nominees Stephen Hough, the Minnesota Orchestra and conductor Osmo Vänskä. The album, the 50th release in Hyperion’s acclaimed Romantic Piano Concerto series, was recorded live in concert at Minneapolis’ Orchestra Hall in spring and fall 2009. The CDs will be available April 1 in stores and online at minnesotaorchestra.org and hyperion-records.co.uk, and will also be available as a download on major internet music sites.

Vänskä and the Minnesota Orchestra have earned high praise for their previous recording projects together, including a five-CD Beethoven symphony cycle with Swedish-based BIS. The Tchaikovsky recording is the ensemble’s first live recording project under Vänskä, as well as its inaugural collaboration with Hyperion. Pianist Hough is a prolific Hyperion recording artist, having made 28 previous albums with the label.

In addition to the three piano concertos and Concert Fantasia, the set includes Hough’s solo piano arrangement of two brief Tchaikovsky works, as well as two alternative versions of the second movement of Piano Concerto No. 2, in editions by Hough and Tchaikovsky pupil Alexander Siloti.

A warhorse and three lesser-known masterpieces
Tchaikovsky’s First Piano Concerto is among the most popular works in the genre: the lush opening melody and its crashing accompanying piano chords encapsulate the Romantic spirit. Its two successors and the Concert Fantasia are less often performed, but are masterworks in their own right, offering plentiful color and virtuosity. The Second includes an intriguing hint of a Triple Concerto in its middle movement, while the Third is a fascinating one-movement vestige of an unfinished symphony. The Concert Fantasia is built around a huge piano cadenza, with a concluding movement full of contrasts.

The collaborators: Minnesota Orchestra, Osmo Vänskä, Stephen Hough and Hyperion Records
Led by Music Director Osmo Vänskä, the Minnesota Orchestra is recognized as one of America’s leading orchestras. Founded in 1903, it performs nearly 175 concerts each year, with 400,000 attending, and reaches more than 85,000 music lovers annually through its education programs. The Orchestra is heard through an award-winning series of weekly radio broadcasts produced by Minnesota Public Radio, with many concerts subsequently heard on American Public Media’s national programs, SymphonyCast and Performance Today; through a six-concert BBC Radio Performance on 3 series during the 2009-10 season; and through its many recordings dating to the 1920s.

Finnish conductor Osmo Vänskä became the Minnesota Orchestra’s tenth music director in 2003. During his Minnesota tenure he has led the Orchestra on three European tours—including the ensemble’s debut at such prominent music festivals as the BBC Proms and Edinburgh Festival—as well as three tours to communities across Minnesota. In addition to these Tchaikovsky discs, his recording projects with the Orchestra have included a complete Beethoven symphonies cycle and, now in progress, the Beethoven piano concertos with soloist Yevgeny Sudbin. As guest conductor, he has led all the major American and European orchestras. For two decades he was music director of Finland’s Lahti Symphony Orchestra.

British pianist Stephen Hough approaches music with both intellectual rigor and virtuosic technique. A four-time Grammy nominee, he regularly appears with top orchestras in North America and Europe and plays recitals in leading venues worldwide. Also active as a composer, he recently wrote a string sextet for an exhibition at London’s National Gallery. In 2001 he was awarded the MacArthur Fellowship, also known as the “genius grant.” In 2008 his album of Saint-Saëns’ complete piano-orchestra works received the Gramophone Gold Disc award for being voted the most popular recording of the past 30 years.

Founded in 1980, Hyperion Records is an independent British classical label devoted to presenting high-quality recordings of music of all styles from the 12th to 21st centuries. The music available on Hyperion and its subsidiary label Helios includes choral, solo vocal, orchestral, chamber and instrumental works. Its catalog comprises nearly 1,400 CDs, with some 80 new titles issued each year. Its honors include the Best Label Award at the MIDEM Cannes Classiques Awards. Hyperion is led by director Simon Perry; the recording engineer for this project is Andrés Villalta and the producer is Andrew Keener. This CD set is part of Hyperion’s Romantic Piano Concerto series, which features 131 works for piano and orchestra performed by the world’s great pianists and orchestras.
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TCHAIKOVSKY: The Romantic Piano Concerto, Volume 50 (Hyperion - CDA67711/2)

Minnesota Orchestra
Osmo Vänskä, conductor
Stephen Hough, piano

TCHAIKOVSKY Piano Concerto No. 1 in B-flat minor, Opus 23
TCHAIKOVSKY Piano Concerto No. 2 in G major, Opus 44
TCHAIKOVSKY Concert Fantasia in G major, Opus 56
TCHAIKOVSKY Piano Concerto No. 3 in E-flat major, Opus 75

Extra tracks include Tchaikovsky’s Solitude, Opus 73, No. 6; None but the lonely heart, Opus 6, No. 6; and two alternative versions of movement two of Piano Concerto No. 2, in editions by Stephen Hough and Alexander Siloti.

Album available April 1 in stores, at minnesotaorchestra.org and at hyperion-records.co.uk.
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