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Cover: Jukka Tiensuu – Vie · Missa, for clarinet and orchestra · False Memories I–III

Jukka Tiensuu

Vie

Missa, for clarinet and orchestra · False Memories I–III

Kari Kriikku, clarinet
Helsinki Philharmonic Orchestra
John Storgårds

ODE 1166-2 · CD · October 2010

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New Finnish music at its best: works by Jukka Tiensuu, championed by clarinet virtuoso Kari Kriikku in \

Track listing

11 tracks · 63:53

Listen to samples on selected tracks.

Jukka Tiensuu

  1. 1 Vie. A Concerto for Orchestra (2007) 17:58
  2. Missa, for clarinet and orchestra (2007) 28:17
  3. 2 I. Introitus 2:59
  4. 3 II. Kyrie 4:37
  5. 4 III. Gloria 5:15
  6. 5 IV. Credo 4:52
  7. 6 V. Sanctus 4:16
  8. 7 VI. Agnus Dei 4:27
  9. 8 VII. Ite 1:48
  10. False Memories I-III. Morphoses for Orchestra (2008) 17:52
  11. 9 I. Review 4:48
  12. 10 II. Nostalgy 6:56
  13. 11 III. Trauma 5:57

About this recording

This CD features Finland's star clarinetist Kari Kriikku with the première recording of Jukka Tiensuu's second clarinet concerto Missa, written for him in 2007. Also included are the orchestral pieces Vie (2007) and False Memories I-III (2008) by the same composer.

Jukka Tiensuu is regarded as one of the most fascinating Finnish living composer along with Einojuhani Rautavaara, Kaija Saariaho, and Magnus Lindberg. His first clarinet concerto Puro, written for Kari Kriikku in 1989, has since known a phenomenal success, with fifty acclaimed performances around the globe.

Kari Kriikku, the muse to a number of Finland's high profile composers, has previously made acclaimed recordings of clarinet concertos by Magnus Lindberg (2006 BBC Music Magazine Award & Classic FM Gramophone Award; ODE 1038-2), Kimmo Hakola (ODE 1063-2), and Jouni Kaipainen, in addition to Jukka Tiensuu's Puro (ODE 778-2). Upon the world premiere of Missa in Glasgow on May 4, 2007, The Scotsman wrote, "Kari Kriikku was the solitary star. His ability to get effects out of his instrument was clearly the inspiration behind Tiensuu's concerto."

The Helsinki Philharmonic Orchestra is led on this disc by their chief conductor John Storgårds, who has made several award-winning recordings of contemporary music.

Features

Booklet with liner notes in English and Finnish

Press

In short, this is a very appealing release for fans of contemporary music, and another important addition to the ever-growing repertoire of fine Finnish composers in the Ondine catalog.
David Hurwitz, ClassicsToday.com, 11 July 2011, Artistic Quality 9 / Sound Quality 9

Vie is a new work, from 2007, structured as a concerto for orchestra. This is Tiensuu at his best: pithy, virtuosic, surprising, and expressive.
Peter Burwasser, Fanfare Magazine, 11 June 2011

Kari Kriikku and John Storgårds - who premiered the work in Glasgow - provide a vivid account.
Guy Rickards, Gramophone, April 2011

À l'image des métamorphoses esthétiques générales en direction d'un certain néo-romantisme, nous découvrons un Tiensuu en cours d'abandon des traits constitutifs en voie de banalisation des travers et tics de moult compositeurs contemporains par trop formatés. (...) Le chef John Storgårds présent sur tous les fronts de la musique de son temps et de sa terre natale, la Finlande, fait montre une fois encore de qualités exceptionnelles, techniques et intellectuelles, à la tête d'un Orchestre philharmonique d'Helsinki bouillonnant et exacerbé.
Jean-Luc Caron, ResMusica.com, 13.2.2011, La Clef ResMusica.com

Vie und Missa zeigen Tiensuu als Orchesterkomponisten, der in puncto Handwerk und Inspiration keinen Vergleich scheuen muss. Kriikkus überragendes Spiel ist ein weiterer Pluspunkt dieser CD. Sie ist auch Beleg für einen Trend: Allmählich wird sich niemand mehr der Erkenntnis verschließen können, dass Finnland zu den führenden kreativen Zentren der zeitgenössischen Musik zählt.
Michael Loos, Klassik.com, 26.1.2011

This release might well be the best introduction possible to Tiensuu's highly personal sound world. (...) They help considerably in appreciating his evolution over the last few years.
Hubert Culot, MusicWeb-International, January 2011

Missa (...) certainly gives Kriikku the chance to display all his tricks, from multiphonics to multi-tonguing, and from one extreme of register to the other, with quarter tones thrown in along the way. (...) Vie (...) generates some very striking textures within a formal scheme that manages to be both satisfying and quietly unconventional at the same time.
Andrew Clements, The Guardian, 25 November 2010

Tiensuu on aina musikanttinen, hauska ja koskettava. Hän tarjoaa riittävästi tarttumapintaa rivikuulijalle ja ylettömästi yksityiskohtia syventyjälle.
Kare Eskola, YLE Radio 1, 4.11.2010

Vie (...) rast und tobt, sprüht, explodiert in wohlkalkulierten Detonationen, stürmt in kaum mehr als einer Viertelstunde durch alle erdenklichen Höhen, Tiefen, Längen und Breiten und ist bei aller Kühnheit obendrein auch noch äußerst einprägsam (...). Missa, ein ausgewachsenes, knapp halbstündiges Klarinettenkonzert, das (...) dem fabelhaften Solisten Kari Kriikku vermutlich alles an Tricks und Raffinesse abverlangt, was nur einigermaßen auf dem Rohrblatt möglich ist (...) - eine Komposition von hohem Unterhaltungswert, schnurrig, launig, poetisch und sensibel, kurzum ein echter Gewinn wie die gesamte CD.
Rasmus van Rijn, klassik-heute.com, 2.11.2010, 10 • 10 • 10

The artists

Kari Kriikku

Hailed by the New York Times as “A physically flamboyant player of Olympian virtuosity…”, Kari Kriikku has been a living inspiration behind a great number of remarkable Finnish compositions for the clarinet. On stage and through recordings, he has championed concertos and chamber works written for him by Kimmo Hakola, Jouni Kaipainen, Magnus Lindberg, Uljas Pulkkis, Kaija Saariaho, and Jukka Tiensuu. Above all, Kari Kriikku has premiered the entire output for clarinet by Magnus Lindberg. His recording of the Clarinet Concerto earned him both a Gramophone Award and a BBC Music Magazine Award in 2006. Furthermore he has championed the clarinet works of Jukka Tiensuu. Both concerto works Puro (“brook”, or “Bach” in German) and Missa he has performed more than fifty times.

Full biography

Helsinki Philharmonic Orchestra

The Helsinki Philharmonic Orchestra, the first professional symphony orchestra to be founded in the Nordic countries (1882), has grown from a band of 36 players to an orchestra of 102 regular members.

Full biography

Also recommended

Claude Debussy · Jukka Tiensuu · Jouni Kaipainen

Works for Clarinet and Orchestra

Kari Kriikku, clarinet · Finnish RSO · Avanti! Chamber Orchestra · Jukka-Pekka Saraste, conductor

ODE 778-2 · CD · Jan 1992

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