A little focus on composer Nicholas Maw (1935-2009), perhaps not very famous outside his native Britain where he is very much considered and appreciated: some of the most renowned conductors such as Simon Rattle and Daniel Harding have performed his works on stage and put them on record. Defying any categorization, Maw’s style is very eclectic, from the merry neoclassicism of the Dance Scenes to the modern, massive and very ambitious symphonic work Odyssey, perhaps his magnum opus. Simon Rattle hold it in such high esteem that he demanded to record it live in 1991 as a condition to the re-negotiation of his EMI contract!