Ostrobothnian Chamber Orchestra, Malin Broman, Jan-Erik Gustafsson - Jaakko Kuusisto, Mats Larsson Gothe, Sally Beamish: Ringraziamenti
- Product Code: ABCD 539
The repertoire and emotional core of the album is built around themes of gratitude, remembrance, and musical dialogue. Jaakko Kuusisto’s (1974–2022) Cello Concerto Op. 38 (2018–2019) receives its world premiere recording. Dedicated to cello legend Arto Noras, the three-movement concerto features the soloist accompanied by a string orchestra and a percussionist alternating between snare drums and vibraphone. The still, wintry soundscape of the middle movement has been aptly compared to the atmosphere of Kuusisto’s acclaimed opera Ice. Opening the album is Kuusisto’s Wiima Op. 27 for string orchestra (2011)—adapted by the composer from his Play III string quartet—which represents a stylistically broader expression, introducing modernist, improvisational chord progressions into simple harmonic structures.
The bridge between Nordic contemporary music and classical tradition is deepened by two other premiere recordings inspired by Ludwig van Beethoven's string quartets. Swedish composer Mats Larsson Gothe's (b. 1965) string orchestra work Ringraziamenti (2022) draws its inspiration from the slow movement (Heiliger Dankgesang) of Beethoven's A minor quartet, Op. 132. Larsson Gothe has created a diatonic work in the ancient Lydian church mode, utilizing the white keys of the piano entirely without chromaticism, save for a single C-sharp. English-born Sally Beamish's (b. 1956) Opus California (1999, string orchestra version) takes the themes and bridge passages of Beethoven's C minor quartet, Op. 18 No. 4 as its starting point, developing them through the lens of jazz and contemporary American musical language.
FORMAT: CD
