ODE10412 - E Rautavaara: Garden of Spaces. Clarinet Concerto - Richard Stoltzman, clarinet; Helsinki Philharmonic Orchestra; Leif Segerstam, conductor

ODE10412 - E Rautavaara: Garden of Spaces. Clarinet Concerto - Richard Stoltzman, clarinet; Helsinki Philharmonic Orchestra; Leif Segerstam, conductor

Label - Ondine

Cat. No. - ODE10412

Including Garden of Spaces; Clarinet Concerto; Cantus Arcticus

Cantus Arcticus, a concerto for birds and orchestra is one of the best-known, best-loved and most frequently performed pieces of contemporary Finnish music. Its effect and magic is due to the interaction of the rather simple orchestral texture with a counterpoint of birdsong, recorded near the Arctic Circle and on the bogs of Liminka in northern Finland.

In Garden of Spaces the orchestra is divided into groups, each of which enters when, and only when, the conductor cues them in. The conductor is thus free to have these units played in any order at all, consequently or simultaneously or interleaved, creating his own structure in the process.

Radio 3's 'In Tune' recently featured an interview with Richard Stoltzman where he talked about the fascinating collaboration he had with Rautavaara during the creative process in Helsinki. The subsequent Clarinet Concerto was premièred in the Autumn of 2002 at the Kennedy Center and Carnegie Hall and the following May with the BBC Symphony, all with Leonard Slatkin conducting. There have been numerous additional performances of the Concerto, most recently in Düsseldorf with Segerstam, the Ulster Orchestra in Belfast and in Lyon with Slatkin on March 31 and April 2, all with Stolzman. The interview and sneak preview of this recording of the Clarinet Concerto was played in early February.

Einojuhani Rautavaara is Finland's most famous living composer. He studied with Merikanto, Copland, Persichetti and Roger Sessions. Stylistically, his music has ranged over a wide spectrum from post-war modernism to avant-garde constructivism and thence through a more romantic musical language, anchored in tonality, to a post-modernist style that includes more traditional elements
Price: £13.50 (Including VAT at 15%)

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