Rautavaara & Martinů: Piano Concertos No. 3

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BIS is to be commended for producing an imaginatively programmed disc and giving the music brilliant performances and superb recorded sound. To round out the picture, Jean-Pascal Vachon’s program... — Fanfare, Nov/Dec 2023 More…

Release Date: 2nd Jun 2023
Catalogue No: BIS2532
Label: BIS
Length: 56 minutes

Presto Recordings of the Year

Finalist 2023
Presto Recording of the Week

29th December 2023

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Rautavaara: Piano Concerto No. 3 'Gift of Dreams'

Work length26:48

$4.55

$7.75

$10.50

Olli Mustonen (piano)
Lahti Symphony Orchestra
Dalia Stasevska

I. Tranquillo

Track length9:40

$1.50

$2.60

$3.50

II. Adagio assai

Track length11:09

$2.05

$3.85

$5.25

III. Energico

Track length5:59

$1.00

$1.30

$1.75

Martinů: Piano Concerto No. 3, H316

Work length29:28

$4.50

$9.05

$12.25

Olli Mustonen (piano)
Lahti Symphony Orchestra
Dalia Stasevska

I. Allegro

Track length9:18

$1.50

$2.60

$3.50

II. Andante poco moderato

Track length10:30

$1.50

$3.85

$5.25

III. Moderato - Allegro

Track length9:40

$1.50

$2.60

$3.50

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The Czech Bohuslav Martinů and the Finn Einojuhani Rautavaara may not seem to have much in common, but both have adopted an attitude free of musical puritanism, constantly finding new sources of inspiration which they explored without taboos. Explaining the heterogeneity of his musical language over the years, Rautavaara stated that, as a Finn, he stands ‘between East and West, between the tundra and Europe, between Lutheran and Orthodox faith’. Premiered in 1999, his Piano Concerto No. 3 has managed to join the small group of late twentieth-century concertos that are now part of the repertoire. Its subtitle, ‘Gift of Dreams’, seems to describe perfectly the character of the music in the first two movements, before a finale that exhibits a more driven, anxious manner. Eclectic, prolific and capable of composing in all genres, Bohuslav Martinů is nevertheless a composer who is difficult to categorise and the word that seems to best suit his music is ‘cosmopolitan’. The Piano Concerto No. 3 shares many features with the Romantic concerto and recalls both Brahms and Stravinsky. Reflecting the tragic events in Prague at the time of its composition, the concerto ends in a macabre dance and appears as a defiant, almost belligerent gesture.

Reviews

Nov/Dec 2023

BIS is to be commended for producing an imaginatively programmed disc and giving the music brilliant performances and superb recorded sound. To round out the picture, Jean-Pascal Vachon’s program notes are helpful introductions to both pieces.

August 2023

Superbly recorded, this newcomer is an ideal way into these pieces, and is maybe the start of a cycle similarly juxtaposing both composers?

29th December 2023

[In the Rautavaara] Mustonen deftly switches between true soloistic material and a more supporting role, with the piano's complex filigree often ‘accompanying’ the orchestra in a way reminiscent of Rachmaninoff’s own No. 3...Martinů’s fine balance of unsentimental clarity (evoking a slightly less acerbic Stravinsky) and a somewhat Dvořák-ish turn of melodic phrase really is a winning combination.

Rautavaara & Martinů: Piano Concertos No. 3

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