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Kaija Saariaho: True Fire, Trans & Ciel d'hiver
Gerald Finley (bass-baritone), Xavier de Maistre (harp)
Finnish Radio Symphony Orchestra, Hannu Lintu
Awards:
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Presto Recordings of the Year, Finalist 2019
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Grammy Awards, 62nd Awards (2019), Nominee - Best Classical Compendium
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International Classical Music Awards, 2019, Nominee - Contemporary Music
[True Fire is] sung with glorious lyricism and clarity by Gerald Finley…Lintu’s agile direction of the excellent Finnish Radio Symphony Orchestra balances every detail in Saariaho’s intricate,...
Kaija Saariaho: True Fire, Trans & Ciel d'hiver
Gerald Finley (bass-baritone), Xavier de Maistre (harp)
Finnish Radio Symphony Orchestra, Hannu Lintu
Purchase product
Awards:
-
Presto Recordings of the Year, Finalist 2019
-
Grammy Awards, 62nd Awards (2019), Nominee - Best Classical Compendium
-
International Classical Music Awards, 2019, Nominee - Contemporary Music
[True Fire is] sung with glorious lyricism and clarity by Gerald Finley…Lintu’s agile direction of the excellent Finnish Radio Symphony Orchestra balances every detail in Saariaho’s intricate,...
About
Kaija Saariaho (b. 1952) is among the most prominent names in contemporary music scene today. This new album by the Finnish Radio Symphony Orchestra conducted by Hannu Lintu includes world première recordings of three works by Saariaho featuring bass-baritone Gerald Finley and harpist Xavier de Maistre as soloists.
Contents and tracklist
Spotlight on this release
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Gerald Finley on Kaija Saariaho's True Fire
29th May 2019
The bass-baritone talks to Katherine about recording the Finnish composer's song-cycle on texts by Ralph Waldo Emerson, Seamus Heaney and Mahmoud Darwish, written for him in 2014 and released on Ondine earlier this month.
Awards and reviews
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Presto Recordings of the YearFinalist 2019
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International Classical Music Awards2019Nominee - Contemporary Music
August 2019
[True Fire is] sung with glorious lyricism and clarity by Gerald Finley…Lintu’s agile direction of the excellent Finnish Radio Symphony Orchestra balances every detail in Saariaho’s intricate, crystalline scores, and the recording quality from Ondine is top-notch to. Not to be missed.
July 2019
It’s Gerald Finley’s wondrous delivery of a restrained but soulful vocal line that makes the song-cycle True Fire…Where the vocal line is focused, the orchestral writing would be nothing without its surface effects…Ciel d’hiver, a downsized version of the central movement of Saariaho’s Orio…is patiently, broodingly and richly played by Lintu and the FRSO. This was the composer in good vintage.
May 2019
The performers draw out every luminous detail of Saariaho’s writing.
19th May 2019
Saariaho’s alluring song cycle True Fire (2014), written for Finley’s rich baritone and sensitively sung by him here, reflects on humanity’s relationship with the natural world, its texts ranging wide in both source and stance.
