Stravinsky: Capriccio for piano and orchestra (1928-1929) with full score

Performers: Michel Béroff (piano), Seiji Ozawa (conductor), Orchestre de Paris 0:00 Presto 6:30 Andante rapsodico 11:31 Allegro capriccioso ma tempo giusto Programme notes by Charles M Joseph for Hyperion: Composed in 1928–9 mostly in Nice, the Capriccio for piano and orchestra is, in effect, Stravinsky’s second piano concerto. So eager were audiences to see the composer perform his own works that he was regularly urged to write a sequel to his Concerto for piano and wind instruments. Indeed Stravinsky was in such demand as a pianist that he could only compose intermittently, as his touring would allow. The Capriccio was the only new work written in 1929. It is of comparable length to the earlier Concerto; but the similarities stop there. Here the composer employs a full orchestra rather than a wind ensemble and takes full advantage of the addition of strings. Moreover, the piano writing stands in stark contrast to the earlier Concerto. While the outer movements of the Concerto wer