Find classical music concert, opera, ballet and dance reviews | Concerto for Piano and Wind Instruments

Concerts conducted by Oliver Knussen are always impeccably programmed, with surprising connections often teased out between unusual pieces. His 2013 Proms appearance was no exception to this rule, juxtaposing two contrasting works for piano and orchestra by Igor Stravinsky, in between a symphonic sandwich of orchestral pieces by Hans Werner Henze and Michael Tippett.

The day before Stravinsky’s 131st birthday, the Auckland Chamber Orchestra and conductor Peter Scholes presented a programme built around the Russian composer’s Concerto for Piano and Wind Instruments and featuring works by Lyell Cresswell, George Antheil and Brett Dean. Lyell Cresswell is a New Zealand composer currently living in Scotland.

There are some concerts where you are confronted with the same emotions from start to finish, concerts with pieces that have a similar feel and similar impact throughout. Tonight’s concert was not one of those: it varied from funny (Jeux), to serene (Prélude), to confusing (Concerto for piano and winds).