BBC National Orchestra of Wales, Martyn Brabbins - Pickard: Symphony No. 5 (2017) [HDTracks]

John Pickard is a respected English composer best known for his orchestral works. This release from the BBC National Orchestra of Wales and conductor Martyn Brabbins features the engaging Symphony No. 5 as well as the evocative Sixteen Sunrises and Pickard’s arrangement of the Toccata from Monteverdi’s L’Orfeo for modern orchestra.
“there were also distant echoes of Britten (the storm music of Peter Grimes and the bells from Death in Venice both left their mark) and the flurried woodwind interjections conjured up images of Stravinsky’s depiction of the ghost of the puppet in Petrushka. But there was absolutely no sense of imitation here; Pickard’s imagery was entirely his own creation, and the warmth of the principal melody (introduced on brass and taken up by richly massed strings) was magnificently realised.” – Seen and Heard International.