Classical Music

Ondine is pleased to announce the new release of legendary Strauss-singer Soile Isokoski. A multiple award-winner, her recording of Strauss Four Last Songs won a Gramophone Award in 2002. The rarely recorded Three Hymns are coupled with opera arias from Ariadne auf Naxos, Der Rosenkavalier and Capriccio. All of those arias are part of Soile Isokoski's standard repertoire, performing those roles regularly at opera houses like Vienna State Opera, Covent Garden, and Milan’s La Scala.

Ondine’s successful partnership with violinist Christian Tetzlaff continues with a new recording of Dmitri Shostakovich’s two Violin Concertos, personal, powerful yet distinctive works originally written for legendary Russian violinist David Oistrakh. Mr. Tetzlaff has been considered one of the world’s leading international violinists for many years, and still maintains a most extensive performing schedule. Musical America named him “Instrumentalist of the Year” in 2005. Previously released recordings on Ondine of the Mendelssohn and Schumann violin concertos, the Mozart Violin Sonatas and the Schumann Violin Sonatas have all received the highest critical praise. John Storgårds is today one of the most prominent Finnish conductors of his generation, known for his innovative and pioneering programming as Chief Conductor of the Helsinki Philharmonic (2008–2015), Artistic Director of the Lapland Chamber Orchestra (1996–) and Principal Guest Conductor of the BBC Philharmonic (2012–). Mr. Storgårds also has several award-winning recordings with various orchestras to his credit,

Classical Music

Classical Music

Uuno Klami write his Violin Concerto during World War II and it was premiered in Stockholm in 1944. The piece was lost during the war and Klami completed a new version in 1954. Klami is known for the strong influences he takes from French music and from Stravinsky. Known for his exceptionally wide repertoire and a great sense of musicality, Benjamin Schmid is one of the most versatile violinists of today. Described as "one of the most valuable of today's golden-age-violinists" - The New York Sun

These three musicians, who perform together often as the Tetzlaff Trio, bring polish and passion to three classic works.

– New York Times

Much in evidence is that telepathy that passes between musicians comfortable in each other's company. The Tetzlaffs and Vogt bring a Teutonic terseness, screwing up the tension that is so much a part of Brahms's music and making each span into a wonderfully cathartic experience.

– Gramophone

After a cycle of Beethoven Piano Concertos, solo albums of works by Bach and Schubert in addition to a number of award-winning recordings of piano chamber music on Ondine label, pianist Lars Vogt releases an album of Piano Sonatas by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart (1756-1791). In this album, two baroque-influenced and virtuosic early sonatas are coupled together with a touching A minor Sonata K. 310 - written at the time of the composer's mother's death - and a delightful, Haydnesque Sonata K. 333. Mozart wrote Piano Sonatas K. 280 and K. 281 (Nos. 2 & 3) most likely in 1774, at the age of 18. The elements of Baroque influence are clearly evident in the K. 280 Sonata. A prominent feature in the K. 281 Sonata is, besides it's virtuosity, the beautiful slow-movement, "Andante amoroso". The K. 310 Sonata (No. 8) was written four years later, during the summer of 1778, and is written in a minor key: a rarity among Mozart's Sonatas. The K. 333 was published in 1784, but the time of it's composition might have been earlier. This joyful work with virtuosic passages can be described almost as a Piano Concerto for the solo piano. Lars Vogt was appointed the first ever "Pianist in Residence" by the Berlin Philharmonic in 2003/04 and enjoys a high profile as a soloist and chamber musician. His debut solo recording on Ondine with Bach's Goldberg Variations was released in August 2015 and has been a major critical success.

This new album by the Finnish Radio Symphony Orchestra and its chief conductor Nicholas Collon features some of the most recent orchestral compositions by Magnus Lindberg culminating with his new Viola Concerto, a substantial new work masterfully performed by Lawrence Power as soloist.

Composer Magnus Lindberg (b. 1958) is one of Europe's leading names in contemporary music. Having traveled a long road as a composer, from the steely and edgy modernism of his early period to the soft and sonorous sound worlds of his most recent output, Lindberg's new, more emollient sound world building on a harmonic environment rooted in pentatonic scales at times seem to hark back even to Debussy and Impressionism.

This new releae of music by Eniojuhani Rautavaara, the elder stesman of Finnish music and one the most important composers of our time, featues a divers selection of his pieces. The main here is the world premeire recording of the 1997 on the Last Frontier ofr chorus and orchestra, inspried by the Edgar Allan Poe work of the same name. It's a very rich and accessible workd of lush and beautiful soundscapes, where mysticism and nature are entwined. The Flute Concerto is a moving, exciting piece, well suited to the instrument, and is performed by world famous French flutist Patrick Gallois. An early orchestral composition, Anadyomene, presnts some of Rautavaara's most colorufl writing.

Opera Arias (Soprano): Isokoski, Soile - TCHAIKOVSKY, P.I. /

Ondine is pleased to announce a new release by accordionist Janne R�tty�, who performs Johann Sebastian Bach's Goldberg Variations. It is time to lay aside the prejudices concerning accordion and it's reputation as mainly a folk music instrument. The fresh performance and splendid musicality of Janne R�tty� show how expressive and delicate the accordion can be, and even serve the purpose of doing justice to as an iconic keyboard work as the Goldberg Variations.

Vocal Recital: Isokoski, Soile - Finnish Hymns

This CD features Finnish pianist Henri Sigfridsson with piano works by Finnish composer Selim Palmgren. Palmgren is regarded as the most important post-romantic piano composer in Finland. The core of his output is formed by his five piano concertos and more than 300 small pieces for piano. The Sonata in D minor is Palmgren's most extensive work for piano and it was hailed as a milestone in Finnish music.

Sallinen, A.: Kuningas Lahtee Ranskaan (The King Goes Forth