This disc is a double tribute. The first work, Pictured Within, is a collective effort conceived as a major project to mark the 60th birthday of conductor Martyn Brabbins, whose reputation in new music and British music is beyond reproach. Following the pattern of Edward Elgar’s Enigma Variations, Pictured Within is a series of 14 variations on a theme, each of which takes up the character of the equivalent variation in Elgar’s work, the difference being that here 14 different composers have each contributed a variation in tribute to Brabbins. Also on the SACD is Jaakko Kuusisto’s Symphony, a fitting tribute to the composer, conductor and violinist who passed away in 2022. Illness left Jaakko no time to complete his work, so it fell to his brother Pekka – who conducts here – and Jari Eskola to finish it. The result is a powerful piece, full of familiar themes and melodies derived from Jaakko’s existing compositions, to which are added autobiographical extra-musical elements. The moving conclusion is a collage of fragmented phrases inspired by the signals emitted by lighthouses and ships, as if Kuusisto’s spirit had been sent out to sea.
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Reviews
“… The Helsinki Philharmonic under Pekka Kuusisto play movingly. The BIS sonics capture every detail of the impressive spatial effects. I urge the many readers who have a ‘thing’ for contemporary Nordic music to seek this symphony out. And to persevere with it. It completes a coupling which defies the odds and proves to be far from unwieldy.”
Richard Hanlon – Musicwebinternational.com – 5 February 2024
*** Good Album
Jérémie Bigorie – Classica magazine (France) – February 2024
“… Big, hymnlike tunes emerge from straining and urgent textures, and like so much Finnish music, this is not afraid to look into the abyss…”
Andrew Mellor – Gramophone magazine – January 2024
“… an interesting and multifaceted work, rich in contrast, full of good ideas …” *****
Remy Franck – Pizzicato.lu – 2 December 2023
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