Festmusik Athelas Sinfonietta

It has been said that Anders Nordentoft’s music offers its listeners ‘an outstretched hand.’ His works are refreshingly free of dogma and take direct communication as their starting point, whether through clear narrative, sensual lyricism or an almost physical impulse that seizes the attention. The composer once claimed he set out to create music both ordinary and fantastic at the same time, like a normal day of the week. As demonstrated in the trio of delicate, gentle and recent sinfonietta pieces within this release, Nordentoft has displayed remarkable discipline concerning the structural coherence of his music, all the while imbuing it to convey the broader essence of life on Earth.

Influenced by Grisey, Murail and Xenakis, Rosing-Schow writes music in which timbre and colour are as important as theme and harmony.

Den Sidste Olie is a ground-breaking chamber opera by Niels Rønsholdt, who, based on the tonal language of the Baroque, has created an original work that stretches between the beginning of oil extraction and the climate crisis we inevitably face today. With the Danish colonization of Greenland in 1721 as a background, Rønsholdt creates a captivating story about the relentless global pursuit of prosperity and growth.

The Album "Sinfonietta per Sinfonietta" is a compilation of the studio recordings of the awarded pieces in the International Composition Competition under Honorary Patronage of Krzysztof Penderecki “Sinfonietta per Sinfonietta" during the years 2015-2020.

Amsterdam Sinfonietta and their Director and Violinist Candida Thompson join baritone and pianist Thomas Oliemans and guest musicians Bert van den Brink, Ruben Drenth and Jens Meijer to bring our listeners Formidable! an album of French Chansons.

Originally a double bass player, Peteris Vasks has a special fondness for the string family, and has composed numerous works for string ensembles of various sizes. Some of his most widely performed works are for string orchestra, among them Musica dolorosa and the violin concertos Distant Light and Lonely Angel. Another one is his Symphony for Strings ‘Voices’, composed in 1991, as his native Latvia, along with Estonia and Lithuania, was breaking free from the crumbling Soviet Union.

This is the first of three volumes featuring Beethoven's five piano concertos performed by Olli Mustonen, acting here as both soloist and conductor of the Tapiola Sinfonietta. The Finnish musician is known for delivering fresh, visionary readings of popular standard repertoire music, such as Beethoven's concertos which he had never recorded before. Mustonen has maintained a close relationship with chamber orchestra Tapiola Sinfonietta, accompanying this ambitious recording project with acclaimed tour performances. Also a published composer, Mustonen is playing his own cadenzas in the First Concerto.

Celebrating 25 years of LSO Live and the Year of Czech Music 2024: In 1924, the centenary of Bedřich Smetana’s birth was the impetus for establishing the tradition of the Year of Czech Music, commemorated every ten years since then. 2024 marks not only the 200th anniversary of Smetana’s birth, but also the 120th anniversary of Antonín Dvořák’s death and the 170th of Leoš Janáček’s birth. It also marks the 25th anniversary of LSO Live and its first recordings—the Ninth and Eighth Symphonies of Antonín Dvořák.

Two iconic works by Manuel de Falla (1876-1946) were premièred in Madrid in 1915, El amor brujo [Love, the Magician] and Siete canciones populares españolas [Seven Spanish Folksongs] – two works that brought into being the Cadiz-born composer’s life purpose of sublimating Hispanic folklore. Artistic manifestations derived from the soul of the people, especially the vitality and dynamism of Andalusian sonorities and cante jondo [deep song], became his most fertile source of inspiration.

Arrangements for string orchestra of works originally written for string quartet are not uncommon, especially in the cases of Beethoven. But in the amazing scherzo, with its huge climax not long before the movement's end, the extra weight makes a substantial and thrilling difference. And in the slow third movement… there is an organ-like solemnity added by the basses, and that needs the supplementary upper strings to get the proper balance. The Walton piece is a complete success, making the piece sound as if it had originally been conceived for string orchestra.