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Cover: Einojuhani Rautavaara – Symphony No. 8 "The Journey" · Harp Concerto

Einojuhani Rautavaara

Symphony No. 8 "The Journey"

Harp Concerto

Marielle Nordmann, harp
Helsinki Philharmonic Orchestra
Leif Segerstam, conductor

ODE 978-2 · CD · September 2001

Buy / listen

Track listing

7 tracks · 52:19

Listen to samples on selected tracks.

Einojuhani Rautavaara

  1. Concerto for Harp and Orchestra (2000) 23:11
  2. 1 I. Pesante 9:59
  3. 2 II. Adagietto 5:17
  4. 3 III. Solenne 7:54
  5. Symphony No. 8 "The Journey" (1999) 29:09
  6. 4 I. Adagio assai 11:30
  7. 5 II. Feroce 3:04
  8. 6 III. Tranquillo 6:00
  9. 7 IV. Con grandezza 8:35

About this recording

This fifth release in a cycle of Einojuhani Rautavaara's complete symphonies couples the Finnish composer's latest symphonic work, The Journey, with the concerto for harp and orchestra, which features soloist Marielle Nordmann. Leif Segerstam conducts the Helsinki Philharmonic Orchestra.

The harp concerto was written for the Minnesota Orchestra in 2000, immediately after the eighth symphony. The Symphony No. 8 was commissioned by Wolfgang Sawallisch and The Philadelphia Orchestra and premiered during the orchestra's centenary celebrations. Its title, The Journey, refers to a borrowed motif in the slow movement, which in an earlier opera is sung to the words: "This journey goes on... whose is it? - Of one who wanders from the end of the journey? ... beyond time?..."

Features

Booklet with liner notes written by the composer, in English, German, French and Finnish

Press

Good music for the harp doesn't exactly grow on trees, and it would be small compliment to say that of all concertos for harp and orchestra, this one is the finest (...). The performance here makes the strongest possible case for this masterpiece, which deserves the widest possible circulation in concert. Ondine's Rautavaara series has revealed to music lovers one marvelous work after another, and with each new release Rautavaara's stature as one of the greatest composers working today only increases.
David Hurwitz, ClassicsToday.com, Artistic Quality 10 / Sound Quality 10

Une découverte majeure ; un grand disque de musique de notre temps.
Jean-Marie Brohm, Répertoire, Mars 2002, 10 de Répertoire

Both Concerto and Symphony are beautifully played by the Helsinki Philharmonic, which is surely one of the finest and most enterprising orchestras around, under Leif Segerstam's dynamic direction.
Ivan Moody, International Record Review, March 2002

Excellent playing from the Helsinki Philharmonic under Leif Segerstam and state-of-the-art recording.
Robert Layton, BBC Music Magazine, Performance / Sound

The dark, luminous beauty of this Finnish composer's music has won him a growing audience in the United States. These two recent works show him at his wrenching best.
Allan Kozinn, The New York Times, December 23, 2001, Top 10 Classical CDs of the Year

The artists

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

Leif Segerstam

Leif Segerstam (1944-2024) received diplomas from the Sibelius Academy in violin and conducting. He won the Maj Lind Piano Competition in 1962 and gave his first violin recital in 1963. He rounded off his studies at the Juilliard School in New York, where he was awarded a conducting diploma in 1964.

Full biography

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