Lindberg

Christian Lindberg is perhaps the first classical trombonist to maintain a successful full-time performing career as a soloist. Though now considered among the instrument's foremost exponents, he actually took up the trombone fairly late, only starting playing at age 17 after hearing recordings by the great jazz trombonist Jack Teagarden. By 19, Lindberg was the principle trombonist of the Royal Opera Orchestra in Stockholm. But he left that position after just a year, saying he was bored playing in an orchestra.

Magnus Lindberg burst onto the contemporary music scene in the 1980s with his early work Kraft (as in "power", and not the American food conglomerate and inventor of Velveeta cheese by-product substance), an avant-garde spectacular that took the "sound mass" procedures of Berio or Xenakis and wedded them to an explosive rhythmic energy. He's broadened his style since then, taking in tonal elements and even the occasional tune, but the rhythmic vitality remains, and his coloristic gifts, his ear for ever new and remarkable instrumental sound combinations, have only increased. Aura is a four-movement symphony as indescribable as it is a joy to hear. Dedicated to the memory of Lutoslawski, the piece shows its composer similarly possessed of a vibrant, communicative personal musical language. Although it plays continuously for about 37 minutes, newcomers to Lindberg's sound creations should start with the finale, a sort of dance that begins with simple tunefulness before finding itself in a sort of riotous minimalist hell. It's hugely fun, as is the entire work.

On this disc Christian Lindberg joins the Taipei Chinese Orchestra in a programme of works for trombone and Chinese orchestra. The disc also includes one of his own works for the orchestra, inspired by the poetic sounds of the Chinese instruments: The Wild Rose. Also by Lindberg, Kundraan was originally composed for trombone and chamber orchestra but was re-arranged for this disc. Yiu-Kwong Chung has here adapted a famous aria from the Peking opera Cursing General Cao Cao into a striking piece in which the solo trombone is supported by the traditional trio of Peking Opera (clapper and drum, descant fiddle and lute) and orchestra.

Ondine are longstanding supporters of Lindberg’s music – always instrumentally idiomatic and powerful. This latest release consists of no less than three world premiere recordings of the Violin Concerto and chamber orchestra works, Jubilees and Souvernir. Internationally renowned violinist Pekka Kuusisto is recognized for his fresh approach to the repertoire and a strong advocate of new music. Here he appears as soloist and director of the Tapiola Sifonietta, a partnership that work together on a frequent basis.

Tchaikovsky's Fifth Symphony was the first symphony Christian Lindberg ever heard, at the age of ten. Nine years later it was the first he performed as a professional musician – in the brass section of the Swedish Radio Symphony Orchestra. Having embarked on a successful conducting career, the trombonist-turned-international-soloist has since had the opportunity also to conduct the work, most memorably at the Mariinskij Theatre in St Petersburg, the city where the composer himself gave the first performance in 1888. With his Arctic Philharmonic Orchestra, based in the Norwegian city of Bodø well north of the Arctic Circle, Lindberg has now recorded this symphony, which has become one of the composer's best-loved works.