A composer with 12 premieres this year
mainThis is the Finnish multi-symphonist Kalevi Aho:
– Jan 18 Warsaw: Double concerto for 2 Bassoons and Orchestra; Bram van Sambeek & Leszek Wachnik; Warsaw Philharmonic Orchestra, Niklas Willén, cond.
– Jan 19 Kokkola: Letter to the Beyond; Ostrobothnian Chamber Orchestra; Juha Kangas, cond.
– February 17 Paris / Maison de la Radio: Rautavaara-Aho: Sérenade pour mon amour (2016/2018); Hilary Hahn (violin) & Orchestre Philharmonique de Radio France; Mikko Franck, cond.
– April 4 Lahti / Sibeliustalo: Symphony no 17. Lahti Symphony Orchestra; Dima Slobodeniuk, cond.
– Mai 10 Rovaniemi /Korundi: Concerto for Guitar and Chamber Orchestra; Ismo Eskelinen (guitar) & Lapland Chamber Orchestra; John Storgårds, cond.
– May 11 Antwerp: Triple Concerto for Violin, Cello and Piano; Storioni Trio (Bart van de Roer, piano; Wouter Vossen, violin; Marc Vossen, cello); Antwerp Symphony Orchestra; Martyn Brabbins, cond.
– Spring 2019 Innsbruck: Solo XIV for Clarinet; Simon Reitmaier, clarinet
– May (TBA) Risuonanze Festival (Italy): Solo XIII, for Trombone; Rocco Rescigno, trombone
– August (TBA) London (BBC Proms; Royal Albert Hall): Variation XII for “Enigma Variations” for Martyn Brabbins; BBC Symphony Orchestra; Martyn Brabbins, cond.
– September 4 Jyväskylä: Concerto for Bass clarinet; Mikko Raasakka, bass clarinet; Jyväskylä Sinfonia; Ville Matvejeff, cond.
– November 10 Tokyo: Quintet for Piano left hand Klavier and String Quartet; Izumi Tateno & Tateno quartet
– 2019. Solo XV, for Marimba; Martin Grubinger, soloist
Not sure the Proms will be thrilled at having something in their 2019 season announced so prematurely…
Photo by Peter Kislinger
(groan)
How on earth shall we be able to keep up with this speed?
Robert von Bahr, BIS Records with so far 30+ Kalevi Aho records
Good that his music is so great!
A truly gifted composer of strange, expressionistic music, in which the Finnish weather conditions shine through:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OmwbH5j1NT0
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2Ux2MSDnYAQ
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0mG1FvAOfoI
Great that, for a change, a contemporary composer gets much exposure that is really deserved.
Aho is a ”Vielschreiber” and it’s interesting to see if future conductors and musicologists are willing to go through his oeuvre in search of pearls, or whether he joins the ranks of the Czernys and Hovhanesses of musical history. Personally I’ve never felt much listening to his output, to my ears it’s mainly monochromatic, featureless Expressionism mixed with a further watered-down version of the watered-down Mahlerisms of Shostakovich and Britten.
Much to be confirmed in this comment. But Aho is one of the very very few living composers who actually writes music, which is in itself a superb achievement in comparison with the average stuff that is presented these days.
Premiere Solo XIV for clarinet, 12 October, ORF Tirol, Innsbruck
Simon Reitmaier