Rasilainen

Finnish composer Aulis Sallinen's reputation rests on his operas, particularly the first two (The Red Line and The Horseman) which, together with Kokkonen's The Last Temptations, at one stroke put the Finnish National Opera on the world musical map and also offered composers a fruitful territory to explore–one that had not already been covered by Sibelius. Sallinen's orchestral music, on the other hand, is something of a mixed bag. The notes to this excellent new release point out that his embrace of tonality in the 1970s was a radical step for a composer in his position, but it's not surprising given that his music largely disdains traditional counterpoint and lives on coloristic and (above all) harmonic effects.

Siegmund von Hausegger - Rasilainen - Natursymphonie für großes Orchester und Schlußchor
WDR Rundfunkorchester Köln / WDR Sinfonieorchester Köln / Ari Rasilainen
EAC+LOG+CUE | WV: 248 MB | Full Artwork | 5% Recovery Info
Label/Cat#: CPO # 777237-2 | Country/Year: Germany 2008
Genre: Classical | Style: Early 20th Century

…If your taste leans towards Austro-German late-Romantic music and you are, perhaps, also enjoying CPO’s superb on-going Weingartner series then this SACD is a must. It certainly deserves a top recommendation.

10/10 Kurt Atterberg's richly romantic, colorful orchestral vistas require excellent recorded sound and a no-holds-barred performance to make their best effect, and both of these symphonies previously have been well served in this regard, the Third by Sixten Ehrling on Caprice, and the Sixth by Jun'Ichi Hirokami on BIS (earlier versions of this latter work by Beecham and Toscanini remain mere historical curiosities). This new recording, though, sets a new sonic and interpretive standard in both works.

Einar Englund is one of the greatest composers–besides Jean Sibelius–the 20th century has produced. Englund's range of work, especially as seen in his symphonies, has evolved enormously since the end of the Second World War. His later symphonies–the ones on this disc–show the introduction of modern elements into his orchestral pieces. This is evident in Symphony No. 3 (1971) with its mild atonality–the same kind Shostakovich used–that never quite lets go of its Finnish roots, again, like Shostakovich. The Symphony No. 7 (1988) is a stark work about as far from Sibelius as you can get. Recommended highly.

The piano concerto in D minor was composed between 1931–1935 and premiered on November 23, 1935, by the Helsinki Philharmonic Orchestra conducted by Toivo Haapanen, with Ernst Linko as the soloist. The concerto is preserved only as a piano reduction and instrument parts, but the original score is lost. The piano part contains several cuts and facilitations by the 1935 soloist, while the instrument parts show no omissions. The most probable result was that the orchestra played some passages without the soloist. For this recording, Leiviskä’s original solo part was restored. Several reviews, mostly under pseudonyms, discussed the symphony after its first performance.

Kurt Atterberg's richly romantic, colorful orchestral vistas require excellent recorded sound and a no-holds-barred performance to make their best effect, and both of these symphonies previously have been well served in this regard, the Third by Sixten Ehrling on Caprice, and the Sixth by Jun'Ichi Hirokami on BIS (earlier versions of this latter work by Beecham and Toscanini remain mere historical curiosities).

World premiere recording of the Piano Concerto and Symphony No. 1 by the Finnish composer Helvi Leiviskä. Oliver Triendl has brought the works out of oblivion and made them known to a broad public.