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Cover: Kaija Saariaho – Clarinet Concerto "D'OM LE VRAI SENS" · Laterna Magica · Leino Songs

Kaija Saariaho

Clarinet Concerto "D'OM LE VRAI SENS"

Laterna Magica · Leino Songs

Kari Kriikku, clarinet
Anu Komsi, soprano
Finnish Radio Symphony Orchestra
Sakari Oramo, conductor

ODE 1173-2 · CD · August 2011

Buy / listen

Kari Kriikku is the soloist on this much-awaited CD release of Saariaho\

Track listing

11 tracks · 67:05

Listen to samples on selected tracks.

Kaija Saariaho

  1. Clarinet Concerto "D'OM LE VRAI SENS" (2010) 31:01
  2. 1 I. L'Ouïe 7:00
  3. 2 II. La Vue 3:29
  4. 3 III. L'Odorat 7:04
  5. 4 IV. Le Toucher 3:27
  6. 5 V. Le Goût 3:59
  7. 6 VI. A mon seul désir 6:02
  8. 7 Laterna Magica (2008) 23:40
  9. Leino Songs (2007) 12:24
  10. 8 I. Sua katselen 3:01
  11. 9 II. Sydän 2:03
  12. 10 III. Rauha 4:58
  13. 11 IV. Iltarukous 2:22

About this recording

This new CD release combines three recent works by Kaija Saariaho (2011-12 Composer-in-Residence at the Carnegie Hall in New York) and brings together some of Finland's finest ambassadors of music.

Star clarinetist Kari Kriikku ("a physically flamboyant player of Olympian virtuosity" - The New York Times) is featured on the much awaited premiere recording of Kaija Saariaho's first clarinet concerto D'OM LE VRAI SENS. In the composer's words, "the general idea of this piece is based on the famous medieval tapestries called La Dame à la Licorne [displayed at the Musée de Cluny in Paris]. The subject matter is the five senses and the 'sixth sense.'" The Finnish Radio Symphony Orchestra, here led by its chief conductor Sakari Oramo, performed the acclaimed world première performance in September 2010.

Kari Kriikku has inspired many other native composers to write concertos for him, subsequently recorded for Ondine: Magnus Lindberg (2006 BBC Music Magazine Award & Classic FM Gramophone Award), Uljas Pulkkis, Jukka Tiensuu, Kimmo Hakola, and Jouni Kaipainen.

Also included are the 20-minute orchestral piece Laterna Magica, co-commissioned by Stiftung Berliner Philharmoniker and Lucerne Festival, and a cycle of four Leino Songs (on poems by Eino Leino), written for the acclaimed Finnish soprano Anu Komsi.

Features

Booklet with liner notes and song texts in the original Finnish and in English and French translation

Press

Kaija Saariaho is a magician in sound. (...) The recordings are excellent, capturing this rich yet elusively textured music without a hint of artificiality.
Stephen Johnson, BBC Music Magazine, January 2012, Performance / Recording

The Finnish Radio Symphony Orchestra partner Kriikku admirably in this enchanting concerto and under Oramo's sensitive direction provide beguiling accompaniments for Anu Komsi in the four Leino Songs (...). Ondine's demonstration sound caps a marvellous issue. Recommended.
Guy Rickards, Gramophone, December 2011, 'Editor's Choice'

The FRSO explores the alternately disorienting and familiar sound worlds of Saariaho's scores.
Doyle Armbrust, Time Out Chicago, 13.12.2011, 'Best Classical Albums 2011'

The (...) clarinet concerto (...) performs enough Gershwin riffs and virtuosic tricks to command full attention for half an hour - and if you haven't heard Kari Kriiku do his stuff, you must. (...) Best of all is a short, fluttery set of four Leino Songs for very high voice (...) The sound, too, is impressive.
Norman Lebrecht, La Scena Musicale, 27 November 2011

This is a superbly produced recording from the Ondine label. Justly celebrated as one of the leading composers of our time, this varied and deeply fascinating programme is as good a place as any to become acquainted with (Kaija Saariaho's) remarkable universe of expressive sonority and mystical depth.
Dominy Clements, MusicWeb-International.com, November 2011

Mystik, klangsinnlighet och överskridande återkommer hos Kaija Saariaho.
Lars Hedblad, Svenska Dagbladet, 5.10.2011

(...) eine Musik, die unerhörte imaginäre Räume öffnet, die scheinbar durch mehrere bis dahin unbekannte Dimensionen wandert und den Hörer auf einen Weg mitnimmt, von dem er sich bisher nichts hat träumen lassen. (...) Es ist nicht die banale Schönheit populistischer Machart, sondern die Schönheit eines unbeugsamen ästhetischen Anspruchs, der sich aus sich selbst heraus rechtfertigt - und dabei unmittelbar überzeugt. (...) Sehr empfehlenswert!
Hartmut Lück, Klassik Heute, 28.09.2011

Luulisi, että klarinettimestari Kari Kriikku ei voi enää ällistyttää enempää kuin on jo lukuisissa konserttolevytyksissä tehnyt. Mutta kyllä voi.
Markku Viitasaari, Ilkka, 28.9.2011

Kriikku's playing of the phenomenally demanding solo part is no less impressive on disc than (...) in the hall.
Martin Anderson, Finnish Music Quarterly, 3/2011

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

Anu Komsi

Finnish soprano Anu Komsi has been praised for her versatile musicianship and her dynamic coloratura voice. Equally at home on both opera and concert stages, she regularly appears throughout Europe and the United States.

Full biography

Finnish Radio Symphony Orchestra

The Finnish Radio Symphony Orchestra (FRSO) is the orchestra of the Finnish Broadcasting Company (Yle), and its mission is to produce and promote Finnish musical culture.

Full biography

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