As pianist, conductor and composer, Ole Schmidt was one of the great polymaths of the Nordic musical world. His music was influenced by Bartók, Stravinsky and the French school and is under underpinned by a certain Nordic clarity. It combines rhythmic energy, high concentration, elemental expressivity and deadpan humour. Schmidt’s experience on the podium gave him an inside track on the working of the orchestra, and his pragmatism and refinement are evident in his larger scores, including the three momentous concertos on this album.

Though he is well known for his pioneering 1970s recordings of Carl Nielsen’s symphonies with the London Symphony Orchestra, Schmidt had a huge musical versatility, ranging from work as a jazz pianist to the writing of music for stage and screen.

This album presents brass concertos by Ole Schmidt in new recordings with brass soloists from the Berliner Philharmoniker.

In his Pièce Concertante, Schmidt places a trumpet and a trombone in the foreground. The piece has a bustling concerto grosso atmosphere and a consistent good humour.

The album also presents his Concerto for Tuba and Orchestra, which explores the full expressive capabilities of the tuba, and the Concerto for Horn and Chamber Orchestra consisting of two contrasting movements: the first serious and dreaming, the second fast and playfully light.