Download Report

REVIEWS
Whittall premiere
The piece alternates between rhythmically crafty and
melodically deliciously contrived passages, between
action and dreamier states, and now and then presents a quality extremely rare in Whittall’s aesthetic:
humour... A valuable addition to both the Finnish
and the international chamber repertoire.
Hufvudstadsbladet 4.8.
Matthew Whittall: Devil’s Gate
World premiere: Risto-Matti Marin, piano, Christian Wetzel, oboe,
Etienne Boudreault, bassoon, 3.8. 2015 Vaasa, Finland (Korsholm
Music Festival)
Nature-scented mystique
A scintillating encounter in this repertoire where a
painful yearning is often mixed with a nature-scented
mystique. As in Stenhammar´s luminous setting of
Erik Axel Karlfeldt´s erotically charged “Nattyxne”
(Butterfly Orchid), where “passion´s stroke of the bow
rises on bat´s wings up to the orb of the moon”.
Dagens Nyheter 26.8.
Alfvén, Sibelius, Stenhammar: Nordic Songs
Photo: Ghadi Boustani
CD: Camilla Tilling, soprano, Paul Rivnius, piano
(BIS CD 2154/I skogen: Nordic Songs)
Kalevi Aho’s 16th symphony
A descendant of the classical tradition in the clarity of
its form… The huge, orientally-tuned battery of percussions gives the music colourful fantasy and rhythmic
impulses… Aho charges the waves of the third movement with his most heated and gloomiest feelings, to
which the mysteriously glittering and glimmering, airy
fourth movement brings a welcome change.
Helsingin Sanomat 4.9.
Aho’s ability to create a strongly atmospheric, ever shifting soundscape here celebrates a veritable triumph.
Hufvudstadsbladet 4.9.
Kalevi Aho: Symphony No. 16 for mezzo-soprano,
percussion and string orchestra
World premiere: Finnish RSO/Hannu Lintu, sol. Virpi Räisänen,
2.9.2015 Helsinki, Finland
Marvelous Theremin Concerto
The music of Finnish composer Kalevi Aho is deservedly becoming more popular…The big news is the
theremin concerto. It’s a marvelous work…the only
thing holding it back from general popularity is the
shortage of thereminists. The Concerto for horn
& chamber orchestra is scarcely less original and
likewise features expert orchestral writing.
www.allmusic.com 2015
Kalevi Aho: Eight Seasons (Concerto for Theremin
and Chamber Orchestra), Concerto for Horn and
Chamber Orchestra
CD: Lapland ChO/John Storgårds, sol. Carolina Eyck, theremin,
Annu Salminen, horn (BIS CD 2036)
Vibrant and colourful
Tonal and accessible this vibrant, colourful piece lasting around sixteen minutes was notable for the
contrast between light percussive effects, especially celeste and piano, over eerie strings and the
weighty, highly percussive climaxes…
Seen and Heard International 18.5.
Albert Schnelzer: Tales from Suburbia
Photo: Nicklas Raab
German premiere: Swedish Radio SO/Daniel Harding, 15.5.2015 Dresden, Germany
Major addition to flute repertoire
Finnish composer Lotta Wennäkoski has made a
major addition to the flute concerto repertoire with
Soie…
Roughness and weight are less given
to being evoked by this instrument, but in Lin Gros
(rough linen), Wennäkoski manages it, with flautist
Kersten McCall pushing her instrument to the edge;
the title movement is a darkly atmospheric finale…
Dima Slobodeniouk and the Finnish RSO are persuasive advocates for a composer with ideas and a
distinctive way of voicing them.
The Guardian 11.6.
The listener, but not the soloist, is almost left breathless in the firework display of timbral effects… The
concerto has a strong personality. The sound has air
and wind, the music rustles and shines.
Helsingin Sanomat 2.9.
Lotta Wennäkoski: Soie for flute and orchestra,
Hava, Amor Omnia Suite
CD: Finnish RSO/Dima Slobodeniouk, sol. Kersten McCall, flute
(Ondine ODE 1259-2)
Imposing orchestral sonorities
Puumala is fairly unfamiliar name to the pages of
Gramophone at least – but perhaps that will change
following this superbly performed performance of
his powerful opera…A 12-tone work with extensive
and formally adventurous ensemble-writing, it has
testing contributions from both chorus and orchestra, as well as a large solo part especially conceived
for a non-classically trained folk singer…Anna Liisa
is something special and deserves wide circulation
outside its native land.
Gramophone September 2015
Even the quietest passages are teeming with energy.
The whole thing exudes a fantastic attention to
detail… The tragic story of Puumala’s Anna Liisa is
impressive in all its gloominess.
Helsingin Sanomat 19.8.
Veli-Matti Puumala: Anna Liisa, opera in three acts
World premiere: Dresdner Philharmonie/Michael Sanderling, sol.
Malleus Incus, 16.5.2015 Dresden, Germany
Helena Juntunen
and Ville Rusanen
in Anna Liisa
Photo: Tero Vihavainen
Valfridsson’s exotic Temples
of Kamakura
World premiere: Malmö SO/Marc Soustrot, sol. Lisa Larsson soprano,
Håkan Hardenberger, trumpet, 28.8 2015 Malmö, Sweden
Incessantly flowing symphony
Photo: Benjamin Ealovega
Making a real impact ‘Theatron’ engages from the
first note to the last… it contains authentic and
substantial musical content together with serious
sonic investigation…I was especially impressed with
the stormy quality of the concerto’s writing that
recurrently swells in considerable orchestral weight
before transforming into a dreamy, almost ethereal
character. With technical brilliance and artistic flair
Patrick Raab and Johan Bridger, who together form
the Malleus Incus percussion duo, communicated
playing of such intensity it almost felt telepathic.
Seen and Heard International 24.5.
Tobias Broström: Theatron
CD: Tapiola Sinfonietta, Helsinki Chamber Choir/Jan Söderblom, sol.
Helena Juntunen, Ville Rusanen, Jorma Hynninen etc.
(Ondine ODE 1254-2D)
It would not surprise me if “Into Eternity” soon figures
among those works of Swedish art music that attain
lasting popularity. It has all the prerequisites: a tone
language that is easily accessible, imposing orchestral
sonorities and a lyrical touch of Nordic melancholy.
Tobias Broström´s “Sputnik” is also a work with
roots in jazz, although influenced more by Latin
American music. It is well written, nicely orchestrated
and on a high artistic level.
Skånskan 29.8.
Rolf Martinsson: Into Eternity/Tobias Broström: Sputnik
… It is a delicate, shimmering palette of colours he paints
with his skilful orchestration. The orchestra´s interpretation is distinct, committed and coherent… there is nice
variation in the music and he utilises the dynamics of
the orchestra´s means of expression to good effect.
Corren 24.5.
The four movements featured exoticism and a filmmusic sound reminiscent of the samurai culture. The
third movement´s fragile flutes breathed love and the
fourth movement´s hurrying tempo called us to the hunt.
Norrköpings Tidningar 22.5.
Jonas Valfridsson: Temples of Kamakura
World premiere: Norrköping SO/Michael Francis,
21.5. 2015 Norrköping, Sweden
[Sakari Oramo] allows Eliasson’s 4th Symphony to flow
incessantly and densely.…The Swedish composer swings
in wistful ‘Schönklang’ producing expressive tutti-energies…
In this music, everything is related with each other, merging
into one another, looking backwards, looking forward.
Amazingly, in the middle section Eliasson’s symphony turns
into a concerto for flugelhorn and orchestra. Raphael
Mentzen dominates the action with a perfectly polished,
and endlessly flowing, plaintive tone.
Berliner Morgenpost 10.5.
Anders Eliasson: Symphony No. 4
German premiere: Deutsches SymphonieOrchester Berlin/Sakari Oramo,
8.5.2015 Berlin, Germany
Engaging Theatron
Photo: Viktor Gårdsäter
Photo: Maarit Kytöharju
Powerful Puumala opera
Eliasson’s absorbing sound worlds
Sakari Oramo
Eliasson’s last composition impresses the listener
because of its denseness. In spite of the fact that
the three parts are interwoven in a very complex
contrapuntal way there is never an impression of the
music merely being constructed. Its subtle play with
colours leaves a lasting impression.
Kronen Zeitung 11.6.
Anders Eliasson: Ahnungen
Austrian premiere: Trio Akademie St. Blasius, 9.6.2015 Innsbruck, Austria