Osmo Vänskä

Kuusisto: Elisa / Superblond / Snacks Nos. 1-3 / 010101

Jaakko Kuusisto

Pekka Kuusisto

Trio Töykeät

Lahti Symphony Orchestra

Tango Ouh (arr. J. Kuusisto): Tango Ouh

Alan Smithee

Elisa

Superblond

Eerik Siikasaari

Snack 1 (arr. J. Kuusisto): Snack 1

Waltz for Michel Petrucciani (arr. J. Kuusisto): Waltz for Michel Petrucciani

Proko-type of Polka (arr. J. Kuusisto): Proko-type of Polka

Iiro Rantala

Snack 2 (arr. J. Kuusisto): Snack 2

Kartzan's choice (arr. J. Kuusisto): Kartzan's choice

Rami Eskellnen

Heartfilms (arr. J. Kuusisto): Heartfilms

Snack 3 (arr. J. Kuusisto): Snack 3

10101: 010101

Superblond (single version)

Minnesota Orchestra

Mahler: Symphony No. 8 in E-Flat Major "Symphony of a Thousand" (Live)

Mahler: Symphony No. 9

Curtis Symphony Orchestra

Rimsky-Korsakov: Scheherazade, Symphonic Suite for Orchestra, Op. 35

Sueye Park

Seoul Philharmonic Orchestra

Yun: Three Late Works

Gustav Mahler

The shimmering string harmonics at the opening of Gustav Mahler’s First Symphony bring to mind the suspended breath of spring, and will have signaled even to the very first audiences that a new symphonic era was being ushered in. Soon enough the composer introduces some of the elements that would become key components of his musical language: sounds of nature (here cuckoo calls) are combined with quasi-militaristic fanfares and ‘high-art’ chromatic wanderings in cellos, as if to illustrate Mahler’s view of the symphony as an all-embracing art form. The symphony, which the composer originally gave the subtitle ‘Titan’, borrows extensively from the song cycle Lieder eines fahrenden Gesellen. But Mahler also incorporates elements of Moravian popular music (in the second movement) and – in the slow third movement – famously quotes a minor-mode version of the children’s rhyme Bruder Martin (also known as Frere Jacques). The finale transports the listener to a world of Gothic theatricality reminiscent of Grand Opera, before arriving – after a number of false starts – at the symphony’s heroic chorale-like ending. This symphonic ‘world-in-microcosm’ is here brought to life by the Minnesota Orchestra and Osmo Vanska on the fourth installment in a series which has earned the team the description ‘among the finest exponents of Mahler’s music’ on the website allmusic.com.

Mahler: Symphony No. 1 in D Major "Titan"

Albert Camus once wrote ‘when I describe what the catastrophe of modern man looks like, music comes into my mind – the music of Gustav Mahler’. If asked to specify a particular work, it is quite possible that Camus would have proposed Symphony No. 6 in A minor – the symphony that Bruno Walter claimed portrayed ‘a terrifying, hopeless darkness, without a human sound’. Nevertheless, the period during which Mahler wrote his Sixth was one of the most successful and happiest of his life – prior to any marital difficulties, at the time of the birth of his second daughter Anna, his professional reputation growing. Alma Mahler, in her memoirs, suggested that the symphony was in fact predicting instances of future distress in the composer’s own life, and she and various commentators have proposed various interpretations of different elements. Most famous of these are possibly the hammer strokes in the Finale, falling, according to Alma, like ‘blows of fate’ on the ‘hero’ of the symphony. But Osmo Vanska has a reputation for engaging with even the most iconic scores at face value, avoiding preconceived ideas and ‘time-honoured’ traditions. His and the Minnesota Orchestra’s recording of Mahler’s Sixth follows upon the 2017 release of the composer’s Fifth Symphony. Nominated to a 2018 Grammy Award, that interpretation has been described as ‘at once committed and detached, intense and transcendentally timeless’ (Norman Lebrecht) and ‘an exceptional performance that promises great things to come.’

Mahler: Symphony No. 6 in A Minor "Tragic"

Yevgeny Sudbin

Tapiola Sinfonietta

"On two previous discs, Yevgeny Sudbin and Osmo Vänskä have released Beethoven’s three last piano concertos to critical acclaim. Distinctions include Editor’s Choice in Gramophone and the performances have been described as ‘electrifying’ (classicfm.com), ‘absolutely stunning’ (Fanfare) and ‘a Beethoven experience you will not want to miss’ (ClassicsToday.com).

For the final disc in their cycle, Sudbin and Vänskä have travelled to Helsinki to team up with Tapiola Sinfonietta, one of the top Nordic ensembles, and well suited for these earlier and more classical of Beethoven’s concertos. Of the two, the one we now know as the Second was actually begun several years before Concerto No. 1, and indeed even before Beethoven left Bonn for Vienna. During the following decade, Beethoven returned to the score repeatedly and made substantial revisions – including composing a new final movement – and ultimately the C major concerto reached publication first. Both concertos were conceived long before Beethoven's involvement with the symphonic genre, and the influence of Mozart and Haydn is evident in the interaction between the orchestra and the soloist – but Beethoven's individual spirit is nevertheless unmistakeable."				
				
				
				
				
				
				
				
				
				
				
				
				
				
				
				
				
				


Beethoven: Piano Concertos Nos. 1 & 2

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Kuusisto: Elisa / Superblond / Snacks Nos. 1-3 / 010101

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