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BIS

Aho: Concertos / Storgårds, Lapland Chamber Orchestra

$21.99

Details

Composer
AHO, KALEVI
Artist
Salminen, Eyck, Storgards
Format
SACD
Label
BIS
Released
Sep 09, 2014
Catalog #
BIS-SACD-2036
UPC
7318599920368

About

Widely regarded as one of today's most important composers of orchestral music, Kalevi Aho has written fifteen symphonies to date, but also twenty concertos. Indeed, he himself describes his on-going series of concertos for each of the main instruments in the Romantic symphony orchestra as 'one of the most important and most ambitious of my composition projects'.

One of the latest additions to this series is the Horn Concerto, composed for the Finnish horn-player Annu Salminen who also performs it on the present recording. The one-movement work differs from Aho's other concertos in that it includes what the composer describes as a 'ritualistic' element: the horn’s first entries are heard from backstage, after which the soloist enters the stage, moving gradually from left to right before leaving the stage again towards the end.

In the Concerto for Theremin, there is also a theatrical element, this time springing from the nature of the instrument itself. Invented in 1920, the theremin is the world's first electronic instrument, and consists of two antennae, both of which respond to the movements of the player's hand in the air. The instrument is played without being touched, and Aho describes the experience of hearing it as 'magical – the soloist is like a magician, a weaver of spells, producing music just by moving his hands without touching the instrument at all.' After having been introduced to the theremin by Carolina Eyck, and deciding to write a work for her and the Lapland Chamber Orchestra, this 'shamanistic aspect' led Aho to conceive of 'Eight Seasons': a concerto in eight movements, played without a break, and based on the traditional division of the year by the Sami, the indigenous people of Lapland. The wide range of sounds and effects available on the theremin are used by Aho to depict seasonal events such as the first frost, the melting of the ice and the midnight sun, and his score also exploits Carolina Eyck's unusual ability to simultaneously sing and play the theremin.

This disc also includes a video clip, playable on your computer, with Carolina Eyck’s introduction to the theremin and to Kalevi Aho’s concerto.

Tracklist 13 tracks

  1. 1 Beginning 06:39
    Track
    1
    Title
    Beginning
    Duration
    06:39
    Composer
    Kalevi Aho
    Performer
    Annu Salminen
    Ensemble
    Lapland Chamber Orchestra
    Conductor
    John Storgårds
  2. 2 Bar 115 06:36
    Track
    2
    Title
    Bar 115
    Duration
    06:36
    Composer
    Kalevi Aho
    Performer
    Annu Salminen
    Ensemble
    Lapland Chamber Orchestra
    Conductor
    John Storgårds
  3. 3 Quasi cadenza (bar 309) 03:41
    Track
    3
    Title
    Quasi cadenza (bar 309)
    Duration
    03:41
    Composer
    Kalevi Aho
    Performer
    Annu Salminen
    Ensemble
    Lapland Chamber Orchestra
    Conductor
    John Storgårds
  4. 4 Bar 363 04:24
    Track
    4
    Title
    Bar 363
    Duration
    04:24
    Composer
    Kalevi Aho
    Performer
    Annu Salminen
    Ensemble
    Lapland Chamber Orchestra
    Conductor
    John Storgårds
  5. 5 Bar 520 04:57
    Track
    5
    Title
    Bar 520
    Duration
    04:57
    Composer
    Kalevi Aho
    Performer
    Annu Salminen
    Ensemble
    Lapland Chamber Orchestra
    Conductor
    John Storgårds
  6. 6 I. Ernte (Harvest) 03:59
    Track
    6
    Title
    I. Ernte (Harvest)
    Duration
    03:59
    Composer
    Kalevi Aho
    Performer
    Carolina Eyck
    Ensemble
    Lapland Chamber Orchestra
    Conductor
    John Storgårds
  7. 7 II. Herbstverfarbung (Autumn Colours) 02:12
    Track
    7
    Title
    II. Herbstverfarbung (Autumn Colours)
    Duration
    02:12
    Composer
    Kalevi Aho
    Performer
    Carolina Eyck
    Ensemble
    Lapland Chamber Orchestra
    Conductor
    John Storgårds
  8. 8 III. Schwarzer Schnee (Black Snow) 04:22
    Track
    8
    Title
    III. Schwarzer Schnee (Black Snow)
    Duration
    04:22
    Composer
    Kalevi Aho
    Performer
    Carolina Eyck
    Ensemble
    Lapland Chamber Orchestra
    Conductor
    John Storgårds
  9. 9 IV. Weihnachtsdunkelheit (Christmas Darkness) 03:42
    Track
    9
    Title
    IV. Weihnachtsdunkelheit (Christmas Darkness)
    Duration
    03:42
    Composer
    Kalevi Aho
    Performer
    Carolina Eyck
    Ensemble
    Lapland Chamber Orchestra
    Conductor
    John Storgårds
  10. 10 V. Frostwinter (Winter Frost) 03:15
    Track
    10
    Title
    V. Frostwinter (Winter Frost)
    Duration
    03:15
    Composer
    Kalevi Aho
    Performer
    Carolina Eyck
    Ensemble
    Lapland Chamber Orchestra
    Conductor
    John Storgårds
  11. 11 VI. Tragender Schnee (Crusted Snow) 03:59
    Track
    11
    Title
    VI. Tragender Schnee (Crusted Snow)
    Duration
    03:59
    Composer
    Kalevi Aho
    Performer
    Carolina Eyck
    Ensemble
    Lapland Chamber Orchestra
    Conductor
    John Storgårds
  12. 12 VII. Eisschmelze (Melting of the Ice) 03:02
    Track
    12
    Title
    VII. Eisschmelze (Melting of the Ice)
    Duration
    03:02
    Composer
    Kalevi Aho
    Performer
    Carolina Eyck
    Ensemble
    Lapland Chamber Orchestra
    Conductor
    John Storgårds
  13. 13 VIII. Mitternachtssonne (Midnight Sun) 06:39
    Track
    13
    Title
    VIII. Mitternachtssonne (Midnight Sun)
    Duration
    06:39
    Composer
    Kalevi Aho
    Performer
    Carolina Eyck
    Ensemble
    Lapland Chamber Orchestra
    Conductor
    John Storgårds