Piano Concertino

Francisco Coll's vivid and unpredictable Piano Concertino No sere yo quien diga nada ('I'm not saying nothing') is one of his most striking scores to date. Written for Nicolas Hodges this four-movement work, with its idiosyncratic instrumentation (a bottom-heavy ensemble of lower strings, wind, brass and percussion), flinty harmonies and taut rhythmic profile made a strong and lasting impression on audiences. For its UK premiere in 2014 (with the CBSO conducted by Thomas Ades), Coll added a substantial cadenza to showcase Hodges' formidable musicality even further. Drawing on material from elsewhere in the work, it provides a dynamic bridge between the icy third movement - Interlude - and the frenzied acrobatics of the final Postlude.

'An elegant, feisty showpiece, full of vividly imagined ideas and quicksilver changes of direction and mood, through which the soloist cavorts like a high-wire artist, over an orchestra... which comments on and supports its act.'

The Guardian (Andrew Clements), 12 June 2014

'The score dances in the stratosphere, tugged back to earth by contrabassoons, contrabass clarinet and sax. In four almost continuous movements, the work is gloriously yet anarchically pianistic.'

The Times (Hilary Finch), 23 June 2014

'...a hectically sustained dance, the piano's incessant chirruping woven into the percussion and piccolos in ever-changing patterns, with only tiny pauses to catch its breath.'

The Telegraph (Ivan Hewett), 22 June 2014