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Cover: Uljas Pulkkis – Tales of Joy, Passion, and Love · On the Crest of Waves · Vernal Bloom

Uljas Pulkkis

Tales of Joy, Passion, and Love

On the Crest of Waves · Vernal Bloom

Kari Kriikku, clarinet
Gabriel Suovanen, baritone
Tampere Philharmonic Orchestra
Hannu Lintu, conductor

ODE 1176-2 · CD · June 2011

Buy / listen

Latest instalment in Kari Kriikku\

Track listing

11 tracks · 62:11

Listen to samples on selected tracks.

Uljas Pulkkis

  1. On the Crest of Waves. Seven Fantasies for Symphony Orchestra (2003) 17:58
  2. 1 Fantasy I: Introduction ? 1:52
  3. 2 Fantasy II: On the Shore ? 1:56
  4. 3 Fantasy III: The Wind ? 1:43
  5. 4 Fantasy IV: Rough Sea ? 1:58
  6. 5 Fantasy V: Approaching Storm ? 4:00
  7. 6 Fantasy VI: The Calm ? 5:08
  8. 7 Fantasy VII: On the Waves 2:57
  9. Tales of Joy, Passion, and Love. A Clarinet Concerto in Three Movements (2005/2010) 33:25
  10. 8 I. Tales of Joy ? 11:25
  11. 9 II. Tales of Passion ? 14:24
  12. 10 III. Tales of Love (Text: Thomas Moore) 7:36
  13. 11 Vernal Bloom. A Tone Poem (2008) 9:12

About this recording

This recording features Kari Kriikku ("a physically flamboyant player of Olympian virtuosity" - The New York Times) as soloist in Uljas Pulkkis' both cheerful and meditative clarinet concerto, Tales of Joy, Passion, and Love. Its concluding movement, Tales of Love, includes the setting of a poem by Thomas Moore ("She sang of Love" from Irish Melodies), featuring baritone Gabriel Suovanen as co-soloist.

The Romantic and Impressionist dimensions in Uljas Pulkkis' music are further showcased in the seven orchestral fantasies of On the Crest of Waves, as well as in the tone poem Vernal Bloom.

Ondine herewith continues Kari Kriikku's acclaimed recording series of clarinet concertos, which have been written for and performed by this muse to a number of Finland's high profile composers. Previous releases include concertos by Magnus Lindberg (2006 BBC Music Magazine Award & Classic FM Gramophone Award; ODE 1038-2), Jukka Tiensuu (ODE 1166-2 and ODE 778-2), Kimmo Hakola (ODE 1063-2), and Jouni Kaipainen (ODE 778-2), with Kaija Saariaho's D'om le vrai sens to follow in the autumn.

The Tampere Philharmonic Orchestra, here led by its chief conductor Hannu Lintu, has made several award-winning recordings of contemporary music.

Features

Booklet with liner notes in English and Finnish

Press

Pulkkis can chuck an orchestra around with Respighian sure-handedness and Straussian textural warmth. (...) The Tampere Philharmonic under Hannu Lintu plays (...) with sure-footed ease, even though the Fabergé precision of Pulkkis's orchestral writing must be murder to co-ordinate. (...) The infectious enthusiasm of this music should win it many friends.
Martin Anderson, International Record Review, December 2011

Splendid performances in magnificent a recording of this attractive music. (...) This is a fine release that should appeal to all with a liking for Debussy and Ravel.
Hubert Culot, MusicWeb-International.com, August 2011

On the Crest of Waves (...) shows a mastery of the orchestra that even that wily old fox Richard Strauss might have envied; (...) it has colour, good humour, energy and the odd island of calm, and Hannu Lintu's Tampere musicians give it their thrilling best.
Martin Anderson, Finnish Musical Quarterly, 3/2011

Uljas Pulkkisin On the Crest of Waves on herkkupala uusromanttisen orkesterimusiikin ystäville: teoksen loisteliaat tekstuurit, pehmeä harmoniat ja selkeä kokonaiskaarros luovat voimakkaan hyvänolontunteen. Klarinettikonsertto Tales of Joy, Passion, and Love alkaa soinnillisten leikkien merkeissä, mutta saa loppua kohti herkän introverttejä sävyjä. Kari Kriikku esittää soolo-osuuden loisteliaasti, ja myös Tampere Filharmonian soitto vakuuttaa.
Lauri Kilpiö, Suomen Kuvalehti 36/2011

Vernal Bloom (...) se révèle d'une beauté sidérante. (...) un compositeur de grande classe. (...) Son étonnant de puissance, d'impact, de définition.
Luc Nevers, Classica, septembre 2011, ****

(...) nous tenons là un créateur que l'histoire de la musique finlandaise comptera avec fierté parmi ses plus illustres représentants. (...) Une nouvelle fois le virtuose Kari Kriikku s'engage sans faille dans la défense brillante de la musique de ses contemporains (...) Une musique qui vit. Indispensable.
Jean-Luc Caron, ResMusica.com, 12 juillet 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

Gabriel Suovanen

Gabriel Suovanen was born in Stockholm, where he began playing the violin at the age of 4. He studied singing at the Sibelius Academy in 1993-94. He graduated from the Stockholm Opera School in the 1997-98 season. Gabriel Suovanen has won several prizes in distinguished singing competitions. In Finland he won the prestigious Timo Mustakallio singing competition in 1998 and was given the first Karita Mattila Award in 2000. In 1997-98 Gabriel Suovanen was appointed 'Soloist of the year' by the Swedish National Radio and subsequently appeared in several radio concerts and studio recordings with orchestra and as soloist. In the season 1998-99 he was engaged in several productions at the Stockholm Royal Opera. Suovanen made his debut at the Finnish National Opera as Guglielmo, at the Savonlinna Opera Festival as Valentin and at the Théâtre Royal de la Monnaie in Bizet's Carmen.

Full biography

Tampere Philharmonic Orchestra

The Tampere Philharmonic Orchestra, comprising 97 musicians, is one of Scandinavia's leading symphony orchestras. In autumn 2013, young Finnish conductor Santtu-Matias Rouvali succeeded Hannu Lintu as new Chief Conductor and continued in his post until 2023.

Full biography

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