“… flawless, exciting … we have music that unfolds comfortably, but there’s enough to arouse curiosity without scaring anyone off. It will not alienate stodgy blue-hair types, but it will still satisfy those who crave creative new music.” This is how the American Record Guide responded to 'Left at the Fork in the Road', Sean Hickey’s 2005 debut album on Naxos. Listeners can expect to have similar reactions to his first release for Delos, containing his engaging and beautifully crafted concertos.

In his Concerto for Cello and Orchestra, the composer seeks to “… fuse my interest in neoclassical clarity and design with what I feel is the songful, heroic nature of the greatest cello concerto literature.” The work’s heart lies in its highly effective central movement: a potent and chilling evocation of the “anguish of the innocent people in war’s crossfire” – the composer’s response to the conflict in Iraq.

New Music Connoisseur describes Hickey’s Concerto for Clarinet and String Orchestra as being “… packed (with) many ideas … without ever digressing from a solid thematic core. The second of the three movements was unique in effect, a restless, yet haunting recollection of life in the US heartland, while the frenzied finale was all metropolitan New York.”

Both works get expert, inspired, and well-recorded performances from Maestro Vladimir Lande, featuring renowned cellist Dmitry Kouzov and vaunted clarinet virtuoso Alexander Fiterstein with excellent St Petersburg Orchestras.