Colin Currie / Lahti Symphony Orchestra / Dima Slobodeniouk KALEVI AHO Sieidi - Symphony No. 5

SIEIDI - SYMPHONY No. 5

Elina Vähälä / Lahti Symphony Orchestra / Jaakko Kuusisto THE RED VIOLIN

Jaakko Kuusisto may be one of his generation’s leading violin virtuosos but he features here as composer and conductor, leaving the pyrotechnics to the phenomenally talented Elina Vähälä (aka Mrs Ralf Gothóni). And what a show she puts on here, in two full-blooded 21st-century concertos of Romantic, or at least conventional, idiom, rich in melody, orchestral texture and expressive purpose.

Corigliano’s Concerto will be familiar to many, having been both assembled from the music to Girard’s film The Red Violin in 1997 and in part the progenitor to it. Corigliano pre-composed the opening Chaconne as an independent work so that the actors had a piece they could mime to in the film, but in 2003 added three further movements, including a magical Pianissimo Scherzo, to make a full-size concerto that his namesake father – former concertmaster of the New York Philharmonic – would have liked to play. Vähälä’s vibrant account is a match for Bell’s – and three minutes faster in the Chaconne – and fleeter and more exciting throughout, with superior sound, than Ludwig on Naxos. (In the Chaconne, Vähälä outpaces Chloë Hanslip, too, but expressively matters are more even here.) Kuusisto’s own Concerto (2011) is a colourful and dramatic score, although he has confessed to no extramusical inspiration. The original idea was for a concertante work using unusual and electronic instruments but over time it transformed into the present vivacious half-hour-long concerto of relatively conventional stamp. The finale’s rhythmic drive and alternating lyricism are immensely appealing. The disc opens with the playful overture Leika (‘Child’s Play’, 2010 – not the similarly-named Soviet space dog). Excellent performances and sound. (Guy Rickards / Gramophone)

Martin Fröst / Lahti Symphony Orchestra / Osmo Vänskä NIELSEN & AHO Clarinet Concertos

Fearsomely talented Swedish clarinetist Martin Fröst continues his conquest of the major concerto repertoire for his instrument with this recording of Carl Nielsen's 1928 Clarinet Concerto, paired with a new concerto by Finland's Kalevi Aho. The Nielsen concerto is a dense work in which the clarinet and the orchestra spend a lot of time going their separate ways, with the path of the clarinet being very twisted indeed. Difficult arabesques on the clarinet are interrupted without warning by heraldic blasts from the orchestral horns. The concerto was greeted by early reviewers as a radical modern work, and an instrumentalist wanting to push the clarinet into uncomfortable territory can still make it sound that way. Fröst, however, places the concerto into a sphere that includes many of Nielsen's other well-known works: for him it is not so much a radical work as one that has the characteristic Nielsen combination of being both a bit conservative and quite intellectually challenging. As the clarinet seems to fall into disputes with individual members of the orchestra, Fröst is implacable rather than furious, and he has the technical chops to make this approach work. The Aho concerto is a lyrical piece that makes a good companion for the thornier Nielsen. It offers plenty of chances for cantabile display, not only on the part of Fröst but also for Finland's Lahti Symphony Orchestra under Osmo Vänskä, whose high string tones have an impressive precision and smoothness. The Super Audio sound from Sweden's BIS label is well-nigh flawless, and this is an original and immensely satisfying recording that both asserts the continuing relevance of classic repertoire and adds vital new music to the literature. (James Manheim)

Bram van Sambeek / Lahti Symphony Orchestra AHO & FAGERLUND Bassoon Concertos

The Finnish composer Kalevi Aho (b. 1949) and his younger colleague and compatriot Sebastian Fagerlund (b. 1972) have both received international recognition for their masterful treatment of large orchestral forces. This they have demonstrated in purely orchestral as well as in concertante works – Aho has written 26 concertos to date (most of them in his monumental project to compose a concerto for each of the main orchestral instruments), and Fagerlund’s concertos for clarinet and for violin have been released by BIS to critical acclaim. On this disc the two composers appear side by side with their respective concertos for bassoon and orchestra, works that to a certain extent illustrate different approaches to the concerto genre. If the Romantic concept of the concerto was that of a struggle between the soloist and orchestra, Fagerlund in his Mana (2014) instead gives the bassoon the role of a spiritual leader, conjuring up new sound worlds from the orchestra. (In Swedish – Fagerlund’s mother tongue – ‘mana’ is a verb that suggests invocation; in Finnish the word alludes to exorcism). Kalevi Aho, on the other hand, has endeavoured to enrich and expand the solo instrument’s sonic and expressive possibilities through his use of orchestration and describes his concerto as ‘quite symphonic in character’. In both works Lahti Symphony Orchestra supports the soloist Bram van Sambeek, the first bassoonist ever to receive the prestigious Dutch Music Prize and the musician for whom Fagerlund composed Mana. In preparation for the concerto Fagerlund also wrote the solo piece Woodlands, which van Sambeek includes here together with Aho’s dramatic Solo V. (BIS Records)

Piet van Bockstal / Lahti Symphony Orchestra / Martyn Brabbins KALEVI AHO Oboe Concerto - Solo IX - Oboe Sonata

All three of these works rely on extended oboe techniques—but each does so in a different way. In the Sonata (1984-5, by far the Solo IX (2010), traces of the normal/extended conflict remain in the form of sometimes bitter conversation (even confrontation) among differing “sound worlds,” but without the morally loaded overlay (pure/impure) that we find in the sonata. In the Concerto (2007)—which borrows liberally from Arabic music in its scales, rhythms, and instrumentation—the extended techniques have been integrated into the soloist’s voice. No longer reflecting a musical “other,” they are treasured for their expressive potential.  

Aho is one of the most distinguished of our living composers; and, on the basis of what I’ve heard (his output is enormous), one of the most consistent: He’s stylistically wide-ranging, but his concentration is unfailing. It’s perhaps no surprise, then, that all three of these imaginative works hold your attention from first note to last. Or, more accurately, these works reward your attention from first note to last. They’re not easy listening—they won’t carry you along without effort on your part. The sonata, which makes some apparent allusions to the Shostakovich 10th, is especially challenging, as both the emotional content of the music and the relation of the two performers are apt to shift unexpectedly and sometimes violently, leaving you in a state of anxious vulnerability. There’s a bit less whiplash in the 10-minute solo work, but this, too, is both vehement and changeable in a way that keeps you on your guard.  

That said, it’s the concerto to which I find myself returning most often, perhaps because it makes the most of Aho’s exceptional timbral imagination. Gavin Dixon recently referred to the “Nordic chill” of Aho’s Clarinet Quintet ( Fanfare 36:3), but there’s no chill in this Middle-Eastern inflected music. There’s no musical tourism, either—no attempt at tickling us with exoticism of the sort we hear in Ibert’s Escales , the Corigliano Oboe Concerto, or the “Arab Village” from Schuller’s Seven Studies on Themes of Paul Klee . In part, that’s because the Arabic elements are fundamental to his expressive palette, rather than a superficial add-on. Even more, though, it’s because the intensity of the music—dedicated to the memory of Aho’s mother, who died just as he was finishing it—is so far from the postcard aesthetic. The work begins with a 10-minute lament. That’s followed by four more movements, played without pause. They range wildly in character, yet the sense that the soloist is railing against the pain of the world remains. The struggle is sometimes beneath the surface of the music, but it’s never far away, and it erupts with particular violence at the end of the fifth movement. In the end, the concerto leaves you drained—and I wish that BIS had placed it at the end of the disc rather than at the beginning.  

Piet Van Bockstal plays with staggering virtuosity and an almost terrifying conviction; he gets excellent support from Brabbins and the Lahti Symphony and from pianist Yutaka Oya. BIS’s engineers capture it all with their usual skill (on the 5.0 tracks, the sound is nearly palpable), and the notes, mainly by Aho himself, give just the information you need. In sum, strongly recommended. (FANFARE / Peter J. Rabinowitz)

Leonidas Kavakos / Lahti Symphony Orchestra / Osmo Vänskä JEAN SIBELIUS Violin Concerto in D minor, Op. 47

There is a self-selecting audience for this disc. People who want to know what the withdrawn original version of the Violin Concerto of Sibelius will have to hear this recording by violinist Leonidas Kavakos with Osmo Vänskä and the Lahti Symphony. Sibelius withdrew the version of the Concerto premiered in 1904 shortened it, tightened it and focused it and premiered a second version in 1905. The revised version became a warhorse in the stable of violin concertos, but the original version disappeared until this world-premiere recording was released in 1990. 

Sibelius' original Violin Concerto is more expansive, more discursive, more overtly romantic, and more overtly virtuosic. By following a performance of the original version with a performance of the revised version, the weaknesses of the original are more obvious while the strengths of Sibelius' revisions are more apparent. Kavakos is a fine and fervent soloist who makes persuasive cases for each version of the work. Vänskä and the Lahti are sympathetic accompanists in either version of the work. An audience looking for a single recording of Sibelius' Violin Concerto should probably look for either the muscular and more passionate performance of Oistrakh or the virtuosic and more intense performance of Heifetz. But for the audience that has already heard several dozen recordings, hearing the original will be irresistible. BIS's sound on its 500th release is clear, deep, and real. (James Leonard)

THE UNKNOWN SIBELIUS Rarities and First Recordings

This nicely varied selection of little-known Sibelius contains four orchestral works, 7 songs and choruses, two chamber pieces, and four piano works. Some of it, such as the late Four Fragments for orchestra and most of the vocal pieces, is ephemeral indeed, but there are some fairly substantial works here as well. The two chamber pieces, a charming Serenade for string trio, and the incidental music to the symbolist play The Lizard (Ödlan), are interesting and important. Finland Awakes, an interim version of Finlandia, features the big hymn tune played complete at the end (first sound clip). Had the very last bars been less perfunctory, this could well be the preferred way to hear the work.
The original version of TheRead more Oceanides is also fascinating. Sibelius completely revised and extended it between initial composition and first performance. In its original form it had more of a rondo shape, justifying its original title: Rondo of the Waves. The revised version, on the other hand, follows Sibelius’ characteristic tone-poem shape of sonata form without development (that is, ABA’B'). That fabulous, huge climax toward the end is completely missing from the first version, as is the poetic coda. Although some thematic ideas are shared, the two works might as well be independent pieces.
The two outstanding piano pieces are the very ample Impromptu in B minor and a heartfelt Adagio dedicated to the composer’s wife, Aino. As previously mentioned, the Four Fragments, idiomatically orchestrated from Sibelius’ sketches by Timo Virtanen (second clip), are musically tantalizing but too short to tell us anything beyond the fact that they sound like Sibelius. The program ends with the impressive orchestral Processional arranged by Sibelius from his Musique religieuse (originally for tenor and harmonium). The performances, drawn from BIS’s generally wonderful complete Sibelius edition, are uniformly terrific, and so are the sonics. Essential for serious Sibelians. ( David Hurwitz, ClassicsToday.com)