ERIK BERGMAN: CONCERTINO DA CA

These world première recordings combine four of Magnus Lindberg's chamber works from the 2000s, although the roots of one of them go back to the 1990s.

Magnus Lindberg's composer personality has always been coloured by a strong sense of practical musicianship. It is evident in his orchestral works and concertos in his rich instrumental invention and the demanding yet gratifying and idiomatic instrumental parts. The same applies to his chamber music works, but here the musicianship aspect is even more evident especially in more recent works, which Lindberg has written specifically for himself to perform on the piano. Magnus Lindberg has written many pieces for clarinetist Kari Kriikku and cellist Anssi Karttunen, two important figures in contemporary music scene in Finland. The Clarinet Trio, including fine reminiscences of Brahms and Ravel, now brings together these two musicians with the composer himself on piano.

Hailed by the New York Times as "A physically flamboyant player of Olympian virtuosity...", Kari Kriikku has been a living inspiration behind a great number of remarkable Finnish compositions for the clarinet. On stage and through recordings, he has championed concertos and chamber works written for him by Kimmo Hakola, Jouni Kaipainen, Magnus Lindberg, Uljas Pulkkis, Kaija Saariaho, and Jukka Tiensuu. Above all, Kari Kriikku has premiered the entire output for clarinet by Magnus Lindberg. His recording of the Clarinet Concerto earned him both a Gramophone Award and a BBC Music Magazine Award in 2006.

Anssi Karttunen is a passionate advocate for contemporary music. He has performed over 125 world premieres, collaborating with such composers as Magnus Lindberg, Kaija Saariaho, Rolf Wallin, Luca Francesconi, and Tan Dun. An astounding 24 concertos have been written for him, among them Magnus Lindberg's cello concerto premiered with the Orchestre de Paris, and Kaija Saariaho's concerto Notes on Light.

- Ondine

Helsinki Baroque Orchestra and the Estonian Philharmonic Chamber Choir led by Aapo Häkkinen join their forces together with an impressive vocal cast in this unique release of rarely heard choral works by Robert Schumann. This recording includes the world première recording of Schumann’s 17-minute Adventlied, Op. 71 for soloists, chorus and orchestra, four choral ballades based on texts by Emanuel Geibel, and Schumann’s version of Bach’s Cantata BWV 105. Robert Schumann wrote in 1850: “Keep in mind that there are also singers, and that the highest in musical expression is achieved through the chorus and orchestra.” This illustrates well the composer’s desire to write large works for this medium in an attempt to create a new genre for the concert hall. Today, they still constitute the least explored area of his output. The elevated style he was aspiring to was unheard-of outside the realm of church music. In fact, whether for the church, opera, or the concert hall, Schumann was looking for a sanctified realm, a Goethe-inspired meeting ground for art and religion. Adventlied, Op. 71, was written in November 1848 to a text from Friedrich Rückert’s Pantheon. Estonian Philharmonic Chamber Choir (EPCC) is one of the best-known Estonian music groups in the world. The repertoire of the choir extends from baroque to contemporary music, focusing on the work of Estonian composers. Helsinki Baroque’s sound has enthralled listeners from the Cologne Philharmonie to Tokyo’s Suntory Hall and the Amsterdam Concertgebouw, and at major festivals such as Bergen, Bremen, Rheingau, and Jerusalem.

The present release is the first volume in a series dedicated to Paul Hindemith’s (1895–1963) chamber works includes the first three works in his Kammermusik series together with Kleine Kammermusik written for a wind quintet. This album continues a successful series of recordings of Hindemith’s music together with conductor Christoph Eschenbach. This series has earned him, among others, a Grammy award. These recordings of chamber music have been recorded with a group of young promising artists, including pianist Christopher Park and cellist Bruno Philippe who are playing the solo parts in the ‘Concertos’, Op. 36.

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REVIEWS:

Eschenbach clearly loves this music, and he wants to convey that love to you, the listener. The result is a series of almost infectious readings in which a good time is had by all.

– The Art Music Lounge (Lynn René Bayley)

This is certainly not easy music to play, and often calls for solo virtuosity, the Second and Third Kammermusik becoming concertos for piano and cello respectively. Throughout you can feel in these performances the fresh and enthusiastic approach of these young people under the direction of the veteran conductor Christoph Eschenbach. This disc certainly deserves an unqualified recommendation.

– David's Review Corner (David Denton)

This new album by the Finnish Radio Symphony Orchestra and conductor Hannu Lintu includes two of Magnus Lindberg’s (b. 1958) recent compositions featuring soprano Anu Komsi as soloist in Accused. Magnus Lindberg is among the leading figures in today’s contemporary music and the Finnish Radio Symphony Orchestra enjoys a particularly close relationship with the composer. Vocal music, with the exception of the award-winning work Graffiti (2009) for choir and orchestra, is a rare medium among Lindberg’s output. Accused (2014) is Lindberg’s first work written for a solo voice and orchestra. The work was jointly commissioned by the London Philharmonic, Radio France, the Gothenburg Symphony Orchestra, the Toronto Symphony Orchestra, the Cleveland Orchestra and Carnegie Hall. The work was premiered in London in January 2015. Lindberg chose extracts from actual interrogations in three historically and politically different situations: from the French Revolution, an extract from East Germany’ Stasi archives, and part of the Bradley (now Chelsea) Manning interrogation. Accused reflects universal human values that transcend transitory politics. Two Episodes (2016) is an orchestral work that was written for the London Proms in 2016 to accompany Beethoven’s 9th Symphony. With this in mind the work is scored for a similar orchestra that is required to play Beethoven’s 9th. Lindberg also concluded his work on the same A–E fifth that opens Beethoven’s Ninth Symphony, meaning that the transition can be without a pause. Nevertheless, Two Episodes is an independent work and can naturally be performed without the Beethoven. Beethoven’s musical thinking left an imprint on the work, though in the form of distanced references and spiritual kinship rather than stylistic influences. Although textural similarities to Beethoven can be identified in the music, they blend seamlessly into the colorful tapestry that principally seems to hark from the orchestral brilliance of Ravel and Debussy.

This release by the Lithuanian National Symphony Orchestra under the direction of Modestas Pitrenas includes the complete surviving symphonic oeuvre of the great Lithuanian composer Mikalojus Konstantinas Ciurlionis (1875–1911) restored into their original versions. Ciurlionis was conceptually ahead of his time and the uniqueness and aesthetic value of his compositions have been fully understood only during the last decades. For the international audience ?iurlionisis particularly known as a painter who gave titles related to music to his paintings, but he wrote an impressive catalogue of at least over 340 music compositions, including10 orchestral works. ?iurlionis studied composition under professor Carl Reinecke in Leipzig. He submerged himself into investigation of orchestrations of Hector Berlioz and especially Richard Strauss. His symphonic poems In the Forest (1900–1901) and The Sea (1903–1907) remain the cornerstones of Lithuanian symphonic repertoire. In the Forest brought Lithuanian professional academic music into existence, while The Sea remains an unsurpassed peak in the history of Lithuanian symphonic literature. Sadly, both works were premiered only after the composer’s death, in 1911 and 1936.Although both works were published, it was only in recent years when they have been cleared of editions by other composers back into their original form finally bringing to the listener the way how the composer envisioned them. The 30-minute symphonic poem The Sea has particularly sad history of editions and ‘improvements’ by other composers, but this recording includes the work in its original form.

Tõnu Kõrvits (b. 1969) is together with Arvo Pärt and Erkki-Sven Tüür among the most interesting Estonian composers of our time. This album by the Estonian NSO and Risto Joost consists of orchestral works written between a period of ten years, from 2007 to 2018. These works have been inspired by a variety of themes and are rich with delicate atmosphere possessing a particularly Northern feel combined with a romantic and Impressionistic touch. Azure and Leaving Capriare the most recent pieces of this album. First of the pieces is a transcription of a work which was originally written for the male choir. Leaving Capriis a homage to Estonian painter Konrad Mägi who is well-known for his colorful and sunny paintings of Italy’s landscape. Orchestral work Hymns to the Nordic Lights (2011) was premiered by Britten Sinfonia conducted by James MacMillan. This 5-movement suite evokes the magic of the Northern landscape with Nordic Lights. Silent Songs (2015) is a work of three pieces for bass-clarinet and orchestra where the soloist’s part is improvisatory, lyrical and meditative. Tears Fantasy (2011) is an orchestral fantasy dedicated to conductor Risto Joostand inspired by the work of English Renaissance composer John Dowland. Elegies of Thule (2007) is the earliest piece of the album, a suite for strings which is based on different folk tunes from Estonia. The result isa fascination combination of romanticism influenced by folk elements.

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REVIEWS:

Performed and recorded to impeccable high standards, this is the kind of release that can restore your faith in the power of contemporary music. Tõnu Kõrvits’ voice is very much one that invites rather than repels the listener, creating gorgeous sounds to go along with imaginatively conceived and expressively grounded material. There’s plenty of depth and poetic emotion to get your teeth into, so sharpen your senses and dive in.

– MusicWeb International

The Estonian National SO play throughout with the greatest of conviction and the glossiest tone, driven on by Risto Joost’s unique understanding of Kõrvits’s work, and the recording is everything one would expect from Ondine.

– Gramophone

This new album of Beethoven’s late String Quartets by the prestigious Tetzlaff Quartett offers a fitting tribute to Beethoven’s 250th anniversary year. These monumental works which are given fresh interpretations by the quartet are among the greatest achievements in the history of Western art music written by a composer who had already largely lost contact with the world. When writing his final String Quartets (Op. 127–135) Beethoven was quickly becoming increasingly ill and understood that he would never be able to recover fully. Beethoven had just completed his 9th Symphony when he received a commission to write String Quartets. What resulted was a string of totally unique masterpieces highly individual in their language and unusual in their form. String Quartet in A minor, Op. 132 is a work in 5 movements with movements Nos. 1, 3, and 5 being the central bearers of meaning. The quartet’s hub and pivot is the middle part of the work, Heiliger Dankgesang eines Genesenen an die Gottheit, in der lidischen Tonart (Holy Song of Thanksgiving of a Convalescent to the Divinity, in the Lydian Mode). The biographical context of this title is obvious and specifically refers to the severe bout of illness experienced by Beethoven from the middle of April to the beginning of May 1825. The Grosse Fuge, Op. 133 is a work that has fascinated listeners for two centuries. Originally, String Quartet in B flat major, Op. 130 and Grosse Fuge Op. 133 were part of one and same work. Beethoven had written the Fuge as the final movement for the String Quartet, but his publisher urged him to write a new ending. For this album, Tetzlaff Quartett performs the String Quartet Op. 130 together with the Grosse Fuge, thus bringing the work back to its original form.

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REVIEW:

The immaculate execution prevailing throughout the Tetzlaff Quartett’s earlier Schubert/Haydn release for Ondine similarly yields top tier Beethoven. Before describing the performances, I should address one characteristic (or quirk, if you will) that crosses that tenuous line between painstaking calibration and micromanagement. It concerns an occasional yet slightly irritating tendency to telegraph Beethoven’s sforzandos with tiny gratuitous dynamic swells. At the same time, the ensemble applies infinite degrees of vibrato with the utmost sophistication and specificity, imparting a stinging intensity to unison passages and delicate contrapuntal interplay in Op. 132’s first movement.

They take the lilting second movement’s “ma non tanto” directive to heart, where minimum vibrato and disembodied tonal qualities transform the Trio section into a folk dance. Here, however, I like the Hagen Quartett’s faster pace and suaver ensemble, plus their unusual rendering of the“L’istesso tempo” over the four alla breve bars, where they create a jolting “four against three” effect. The Tetzlaffs conventionally apply the “L’istesso tempo” to the individual notes in these bars, so that the quarter note equals the quarter note throughout. The great central Adagio is on the cool side, yet the slow and sustained writing couldn’t be more beautifully controlled and modulated. But the fourth movement’s rigid dotted rhythms and arch diminuendos reduce the composer’s joy to cuteness.

Every detail of timbre and bowing seems worked out to the proverbial nines in Op. 130’s first movement, and befits the music’s mercurial nature. At first I felt the second movement’s main theme to be held back and self-aware, yet it provides a contrasting context for the faster and more boisterously rendered second theme to flourish. In the third movement the musicians give distinct points of view to the sustained and detached passages as if they were characters in a drama instead of abstract contrapuntal lines. They glibly toss off the fourth movement, as if embarrassed to dance, yet bring a heartfelt, singing sensibility to the swifter than usual Cavatina.

Instead of Beethoven’s revised finale, the Tetzlaff Quartett presents the composer’s original ending, namely the Grosse Fuge. On one hand, their clipped style and bottomless palette of low-level dynamics transforms the gnarly, combative string writing into something quite lithe, transparent, shimmering, and (dare I say it) fun. Not unlike turning a warty frog into a handsome prince! If you want a Grosse Fuge that scratches and screeches and spews venom on each sforzando hammer blow, look elsewhere. However one ultimately responds to these interpretations, the fact is that Christian Tetzlaff and his colleagues realize their conceptions without the least hindrance, hesitation, or compromise.

– ClassicsToday.com (Jed Distler)

Lars Vogt continues his cycle of Beethoven’s Piano Concertos with the Royal Northern Sinfonia with this second volume in the series. The recording also includes Beethoven’s Triple Concerto where Lars Vogt is joined together with his longtime artistic partners Christian Tetzlaff and Tanja Tetzlaff. Vogt’s recordings of chamber music with the trio have gathered astonishing reviews and recording awards, including Grammy nomination for the recording of Brahms Piano Trios (ODE 1271-2D). Beethoven’s Triple Concerto for Piano, Violin, and Cello in C major, Op. 56 is a work radiant with joy, described by many as a concerto for piano trio and orchestra. The work, completed in 1803, has standed unrivaled in its genre. Beethoven’s Piano Concerto No. 3 in C minor, Op. 37 is a slightly earlier work and it was premiered together with his Symphony No. 2 in a concert in 1804. It has been noted that the theme in the first movement of the concerto is possibly a quotation from Mozart’s Piano Concerto No. 24 written in the same key, and the both works do ressemble each other in formal, rhythmic, and thematic aspects. C minor key is also a key in which Beethoven wrote many of his most important works, including the 5th Symphony, the Pathetique Sonata and Piano Sonata, Op. 111. 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 (ODE 1273-2) was released in August 2015 and has been a major critical success. The album’s tracks have also been streamed online over 6 million times. Lars Vogt started his tenure as Music Director of the Royal Northern Sinfonia in September 2015. In June 2017 Lars Vogt was nominated for the Artist of the Year 2017 Award by the Gramophone magazine.

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REVIEWS

Vogt and the Tetzlaff siblings approach the Triple Concerto's Allegro movement with warmth and a bristling energy. The crucial opening of the C minor Concerto just misses utter serenity here, but a devilish Rondo is pure delight.

– BBC Music Magazine

The Triple Concerto represents Beethoven taking a break from high seriousness, and here it’s a delight. The piano concerto, directed from the keyboard, gets a thrilling performance from all.

– Sunday Times (UK)

As an instrument, the bassoon has had a remarkable history. Beginning with its Renaissance ancestry as the dulcian, it developed during the Baroque period into an almost indispensable part of the ensemble. Antonio Vivaldi recognized the versatility of the bassoon early on, composing no fewer than 39 concertos for it. But it was in the second half of the century that the bassoon achieved an equal prominence with the other woodwinds.

The four delightful works on this album, performed by Jaakko Luoma and the Tapiola Sinfonietta, represent different facets of the Classical period solo repertoire, each of which makes considerable demands on the instrument. W. A. Mozart’s Bassoon Concerto was composed in Salzburg in 1774. It is the only one of the five concertos for bassoon composed by Mozart that have survived. It is a bright, sunny piece written at the age of eighteen, in which Mozart reveals himself fully aware of the capabilities of the instrument. J. N. Hummel was a favorite pupil of Mozart, who at an early age demonstrated his skill both a composition and the fortepiano. His Bassoon Concerto, written c. 1805, reveals influences from Haydn, Weber and Mozart. Both Peter von Winter and Gioacchino Rossini were best well-known during their lifetime as composers of operas. Today, Winter’s woodwind concertos, including his Bassoon Concertino, are his only works that have remained in the concert programmes. Rossini’s Bassoon Concerto was allegedly written in 1845 as a graduation piece for a music academy. Although Rossinian in style, the actual origin of the work cannot be verified. Nevertheless, the work is a fine example of its kind among Classical bassoon concertos.

Jaakko Luoma has appeared as soloist all over Finland and in Europe. Luoma became member of the Tapiola Sinfonietta in 1993. During the years 1996–98 he served as solo bassoonist of Orchestre de Paris. Between 2001 and 2003 he also served as solo bassoonist of Rundfunk-Sinfonieorchester Berlin. Today, he is principal bassoonist of the Tapiola Sinfonietta.

Heino Eller (1887-1970) can be considered as one of the founders of Estonian professional music culture. Eller’s legacy is twofold – in his prolific instrumental compositions he forged an elaborate style that successfully combined both modern and national elements, and as a prominent professor of composition during half a century he influenced generations of Estonian composers. This new recording by the Estonian National Symphony Orchestra conducted by Olari Elts and featuring violinist Baiba Skride includes some of the highlights from the composer’s catalogue of orchestral works and is a fitting tribute to the centenary of Estonia’s independence. Heino Eller’s Violin Concerto in B minor was the first in its genre in Estonian music. First written in the 1930s the one-movement work was scheduled to be performed in Tallinn on June 1940. For reasons unknown, the work was withdrawn until March 1965 when Neeme Järvi conducted the premiere. Another work for violin and orchestra, Fantasy, was first written in 1916 and orchestrated in 1964. Fantasy is one of the earliest compositions that bears the hallmarks Eller´s individual style, and its sensitive lyricism and charming simplicity give the work an enduring appeal. The Symphonic Legend is Eller’s largest score prior to the First Symphony (1936). It was premiered on June 1923 in Tartu, and Eller revised the score for performance in 1938. A work with a wealth of musical material and masterly orchestration, Symphonic Legend was next performed only in 2014 by Olari Elts with the Estonian NSO, and the current recording is the first. Heino Eller wrote three Symphonies between the 1930s and 1960s. Unlike his other two Symphonies, the 2nd Symphony has only one movement. The severe and at times tragic nature of the music was incompatible with the demands of the official Soviet cultural ideology.

Sermilä: Rilievi Nos. 1-4, Contours, A Prague Thoroughfare &

FOLK INTO CLASSIC JUHA KANGAS

This anticipated new release features world premiere recordings of orchestral pieces by influential Finnish composer, Erkki Melartin (1875-1937). The works chosen include "Traumgesicht, Op. 70," "Marjatta, Op. 79," and "Music from the ballet The Blue Pearl, Op. 160." Soprano Soile Isokoski is the featured soloist on these pieces, alongside the Finnish Radio Symphony Orchestra conducted by Hannu Lintu.

In this album Clara Andrada, solo flutist of the Frankfurt Radio Symphony, performs three 20th century flute concertos together with the orchestra conducted by Jaime Martín. Malcolm Arnold’s delightful Flute Concerto No. 1 makes a pleasant addition alongside Nielsen’s and Ibert’s flute concertos. Jaime Martín, himself an excellent flutist, is a perfect companion to these works. This is the orchestra’s second album for Ondine, and continues the fruitful collaboration between Jaime Martín and Ondine that has already produced three albums previously. Clara Andrada de la Calleis one of the leading Flute players of her generation currently holding Solo Flute positions of both the Chamber Orchestra of Europe and the Frankfurt Radio Symphony Orchestra. Born in Salamanca, she commenced her musical studies with Pablo Sagredo and Magdalena Martínez at the Syrinx School of Music. Scholarships from the Spanish Ministry of Culture and the London Wall Trust Foundation enabled her to continue her studies at the Geneva Conservatory of Music under Prof. Emmanuel Pahud and Prof. J.D. Castellon as well as the London Royal College of Music under the guidance of Jaime Martín. As a Principal Flute player, she has worked with many leading orchestras, including the London Symphony Orchestra, London Philharmonic, Swedish Radio, Rotterdam Philharmonic, and NDR Elbphilharmonie Orchestra under esteemed conductors including Nikolaus Harnoncourt, Valery Gergiev, Colin Davis, Bernard Haitink, Vladimir Ashkenazy, Myung-whun Chung, and Lorin Maazel.

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REVIEW:

Competition abounds in Nielsen’s Flute Concerto of 1926 but Andrada is totally inside the unsettled, quixotic nature of the music and communicates lyrical passages with ardent conviction. Jaime Martín, himself a distinguished flautist, provides lithe and vibrant accompaniment in both the Nielsen and Ibert concertos, while Andrada herself directs the strings with impressive authority in the Arnold concerto. The quality of the recording in all three works is as bright and vivid as the performances.

– Gramophone