Kalevi AHO Symphonies & Violin Concertos Aho Symphony No 3; Mussorgsky/Aho
Songs and Dances of Death Aho Symphony No 1; Violin
Concerto and Silence Kalevi Aho (b.1949) is a prolific Finnish composer who deserves to be better known in UK. His 12th symphony will be premiered in August on the slopes of a mountain in Lapland! Symphony No 3 for violin & orchestra began as a violin
concerto in 1971, but took two years (longer than any of his other
symphonies) to metamorphose into this interesting hybrid, with 'unappeasable
opposition' between the orchestra and the soloist, who is overwhelmed
and drowned in the second movement. He remains silent in the melancholy
slow movement but recovers for the finale, a virtuoso cadenza for
solo violin and percussion, the violinist consoled at the end by
two clarinets. This was no preconceived formula, but grew organically
of itself. It works well and holds the attention for a span of nearly
40 minutes. I have reservations about Aho's orchestration of the Mussorgsky, transposed down for bass, and sometimes enriched with counter melodies and counterpoint and 'tries to avoid neutral instrumentation'. It is played and sung with conviction, and Salminem's is one of the great bass voices. I
should like to hear it in concert with a bass of Salminen's calibre;
here the studio balance left me thinking that the sparer original
with piano is stronger. Equally recommendable and well worth exploring - these two Aho CDs make a fine pair.
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