Thomas Adès
Märchentänze
Hotel Suite from Powder Her Face · Lieux retrouvés · Dawn
Pekka Kuusisto, violin
Tomas Nuñez, cello
Finnish Radio Symphony Orchestra
Nicholas Collon, conductor
Track listing
14 tracks · 56:50Listen to samples on selected tracks.
Thomas Adès
- Hotel Suite from the opera Powder Her Face (2018) 19:12
- 1 I. Overture 3:51
- 2 II. Scene with Song 6:20
- 3 III. Wedding March 2:40
- 4 IV. Waltz 4:19
- 5 V. Finale 2:02
- Lieux retrouvés (2016)for cello and orchestra 16:49
- 6 I. Les eaux 4:58
- 7 II. La montagne 4:21
- 8 III. Les champs 3:49
- 9 IV. La ville - cancan macabre 3:41
- Märchentänze (2021)for violin and orchestra 14:27
- 10 I. 4:00
- 11 II. 4:30
- 12 III. A Skylark (for Jane) 2:13
- 13 IV. 3:44
- 14 Dawn (2020) 6:22
About this recording
In the Autumn of 2021, the Finnish Radio Symphony Orchestra together with its new chief conductor, Nicholas Collon, arranged a Thomas Adès festival in Helsinki devoted to the world famous composer’s music in addition to works by other composers chosen and conducted by Thomas Adès (b. 1971). One of the highlights of the festival’s program was the world première of Märchentänze in its version for violin and orchestra performed by violinist Pekka Kuusisto, Adès’ long-time artistic partner. This new album by the Finnish Radio Symphony Orchestra includes four recent and exciting orchestral works written by the composer between 2016 and 2021 in world première recordings.
In addition to the Märchentänze, this album includes Adès’ orchestral Hotel Suite from Powder Her Face, an adaptation based on the music from the opera through which Adès first made a widespread name for himself in the mid-1990s. The orchestral version of Lieux retrouvés, originally written for Steven Isserlis, could be described as a cello concerto in the spirit of Marcel Proust. Orchestral work Dawn was written for the 2020 London Proms for ‘orchestra at any distance’, due to the coronavirus pandemic. Adès’ Dawn comes across as timeless music floating in a serene universe of beauty all its own.
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. The Radio Orchestra of ten players founded in 1927 grew to symphony orchestra proportions in the 1960s. Its Chief Conductors have been Toivo Haapanen, Nils-Eric Fougstedt, Paavo Berglund, Okko Kamu, Leif Segerstam, Jukka-Pekka Saraste, Sakari Oramo, Hannu Lintu, and as of autumn 2021 Nicholas Collon. In addition to the great Classical-Romantic masterpieces, the latest contemporary music is a major item in the repertoire of the FRSO, which each year premieres a number of Yle commissions. The FRSO has twice won a Gramophone Award: for its album of Lindberg’s Clarinet Concerto in 2006 and of Bartók Violin Concertos in 2018. Other distinctions have included BBC Music Magazine, Académie Charles Cros, MIDEM Classical awards and Grammy nominations in 2020 and 2021. Its album of tone poems and songs by Sibelius won an International Classical Music Award (ICMA) in 2018.
British conductor Nicholas Collon is recognized for his elegant conducting style, searching musical intellect and inspirational music-making. He began as Chief Conductor of the Finnish Radio Symphony in August 2021 – the first non-Finnish conductor ever to hold this post. As part of the orchestra’s continuing commitment to the Ondine label, Nicholas Collon will record a number of albums in his first season. Collon continues as Principal Guest of the Guerzenich Orchester, and will also return to the Residentie Orkest, where he was Chief Conductor 2016–2021. The Aurora Orchestra, of which Collon is Founder and Principal Conductor, remains at the heart of his activities.
Features
Sleeves notes in English
World première recordings
The artists
Pekka Kuusisto
Finnish violinist Pekka Kuusisto is one of the most versatile and distinctive musicians working today. Always demonstrating his extraordinary individuality and imagination, he is unusually free and fluid in his approach and has been acclaimed for the spontaneity and freshness in his playing. Setting Pekka Kuusisto apart from most other violinists of his generation is his desire and ability to improvise, and his love of playing many different styles of music, channeling the same intensity into each genre.
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.
Nicholas Collon
British conductor Nicholas Collon is recognized for his elegant conducting style, searching musical intellect and inspirational music-making. He is Chief Conductor of the Finnish Radio Symphony (the first non-Finnish conductor ever to hold this post), Founder and Principal Conductor of the Aurora Orchestra, and was formerly Principal Guest of the Guerzenich Orchester (2017-2022); he will tour Europe with all three orchestras in the 22/23 season. From 2016-2021 he was Chief Conductor of the Residentie Orkest in Den Haag (latterly also Artistic Advisor).