Virtaperko, Olli - Romer's Gap - Three Concertos - Kivilaakso, Perttu

This exciting new release of contemporary music includes three new concertos by Finnish composer Olli Virtaperko (b. 1973). The concertos combine several styles, from baroque to prog jazz, as well as different performance styles. Romer's Gap is an electrically amplified cello concerto featuring Perttu Kivilaakso, best known as the solo cellist of the million-selling rock band Apocalyptica. Ambrosian Delights is a concerto for knifonium, a vacuum tube-based analog synthesizer created by Jonte Knif. Multikolor, composed for Joonatan Rautio, is a one-movement work for baritone saxophone and small chamber orchestra. The Jyväskylä Sinfonia has recorded all three works under the baton of conductor Ville Matvejeff.

"The three concertos on this album were composed in a relatively short period of time, between 2013 and 2016. They reflect the basic themes of my music in different ways, including my relationship to tradition and the problems of combining different styles and performance techniques," composer Olli Virtaperko describes in his liner notes, continuing: “What these three concertos have in common is that the solo parts have been tailored to the technical and expressive potential of the soloists who premiered and recorded them. I worked closely with the soloist on each concerto. – – The past four years have offered me a fascinating journey into new musical colors and the borderland between acoustic and amplified music – with all the possibilities and challenges that it brings.