Symphony 2 & Ekho

Anu Komsi · Turku Philharmonic Orchestra · Aarre Merikanto · Petri Sakari

2013 · ABCD 351

Credits

Performers: Anu Komsi — SopranoTurku Philharmonic Orchestra
Composers: Aarre Merikanto
Conductors and other contributors: Petri Sakari — Conductor

About this release

Aarre Merikanto (1893-1958)
Symphony 2 & Echo
Anu Komsi soprano
Turku Philharmonic Orchestra
Petri Sakari conductor
The new album by the Turku Philharmonic Orchestra and soprano Anu Koms, conducted by Petri Sakar, features one of the most important composers in Finnish history, Aarre Merikanton's Symphony No. 2, and Ekho for soprano and orchestra.
Symphony No. 2 will now be heard as a world premiere recording.
Merikanton's orchestration and texture processing skills are now on a more secure basis than in the first symphony. Some individual inventions already resonate personally and clearly point forward to the 1920s. In the slow part, the moment colored by trombone glissandos repeated three times is - apart from something unprecedented in Finnish music at the time - truly original, its tone anything but ordinary.
(Jouni Kaipainen)
Ekho was composed for soprano and large orchestra by V.A. To Koskenniemi's poem. Our international coloratura soprano star Anu Komsi stars in the work on the album. In practice, this work is also the first recording and the first version to be published on CD. It is true that a tape recording of Ekho made by Yleisradio in 1968 was published as a vinyl record, but it has not been available for tens of years.
The orchestra's processing celebrates in Ekho. It follows the mood changes of the solo part intensely and colors both the mental and concrete landscape with tireless sensitivity. Now Merikanno has sovereign control over the orchestra. (Jouni Kaipainen)
Alba's previous album Aarre Merikanto by the Turku Philharmonic Orchestra (ABCD 336, Symphonies 1 and 3) received very good international reception and rave reviews.

Tracks

Symphony No. 2 in A Major Op. 19 (1918) “War Symphony"
1.I Allegro energicocomp. Aarre MerikantoISRC FIABA120052814:15
2.II Allegrocomp. Aarre MerikantoISRC FIABA12005298:03
3.III Largocomp. Aarre MerikantoISRC FIABA120053015:13
4.IV Allegro con briocomp. Aarre MerikantoISRC FIABA12005319:18
Ekho (1922)
5.for soprano and orchestracomp. Aarre MerikantoISRC FIABA12005329:50

Reviews

Orchestral playing is average but the phenomenal Anu Komsi enthralls even in the overwrought Ekho.
BBC Music Magazine · David Nice · September 27, 2013
As on Alba’s previous release of Merikanto’s other two symphonies (see 30 September 2012) Finland’s oldest orchestra, The Turku Philharmonic, under their chief conductor Petri Sakari play this one with great commitment and sensitivity.
Classical Lost and Found · Bob McQuiston · March 14, 2014
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No one with even a passing interest in 20th-century Finnish music should overlook this release—or its predecessor.
Fanfare · Paul A. Snook · April 2, 2014
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…this carefully prepared performance serves the music well. The gem, however, is the marvellous
Ekho
for soprano and orchestra superbly sung by Anu Komsi. This magnificent work is Merikanto at his very best. © 2014
MusicWeb International
MusicWeb International · Hubert Culot · December 1, 2014
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Continue Merikanto, A.: Sym 2 "War Symphony", Ekho; Komsi/Sakari/Turku PO [Alba (Hybrid)] AUDIOPHILE BEST FIND (1 SACD) Completing their survey of Finnish composer Aarre Merikanto's (1893-1958) symphonies (see 30 September 2012), Alba now gives us this new hybrid, CD(2)/SACD(2/5.1), release of his second that many may find the most impressive of the three.
Classical Lost and Found · January 7, 2015
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Critics Choice 2014
Roger Hecht
ANDREAE: Symphony; Oboe Concertino; Li-Tai-Pe (Andreae) Guild 7400, N/D
BRUCKNER: Symphony 8; KITZLER: Trauermusik (Schaller), Profil 3027, J/F
FAURE: Trio; ENESCO: Trio; Serenade Lointaine (Trio Enesco), Genuin 14309
HINDEMITH: Nobilissima Visione; 5 Pieces (Schwarz), Naxos 572763, N/D
HONEGGER: Syms 2+4 (Davies) Basel 04, S/O
MERIKANTO: Sym 2 (Sakari), Alba 351, M/J
SCHREKER: Die Gezeichneten (Conlon) Bridge 9400, M/J © 2015
American Record Guide
American Record Guide · Roger Hecht · February 26, 2015
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”Ekho is a beautiful work and one of the most important to come from this composer. It is difficult to sing, but proves no problem for Anu Komsi, whose full voice is powerful and silvery on top and rich on the bottom. Performances and sound are excellent. The notes are very good in dealing with the composer’s life and Ekho, but they apologize too much for and don’t say enough about the Second Symphony, which is a great work that is more interesting than the composer’s First and Third (1953). If you know those two symphonies, be prepared for something different in the Second.”
HECHT Guide May/June · American Record
”The Turku Philharmonic Orchestra under Sakari once again give a full-blooded interpretation, relishing Merikanto’s rich scoring and harmonic language that point towards the adventurous works 1920s. […] Ekho is a very different kind of work, a ravishingly beautiful score, impressionistic and dramatic, passionate and mysterious by turns, wonderfully sung by Anu Komsi. It baffled its first listenerd yet is worth the price of the disc alone.”
Guy
Gramophone · Guy Rickards
Orkesteriloistoa
”Aarre Merikannon Sinfonia nro 2 A-duuri eli ”Sotasinfonia” (1918) on viihdyttävää ja rikassointista myöhäisromanttista musiikkia, jossa säveltäjän tuleva modernismi jo pilkahtelee ajoittain. […] Impressionistinen orkesterilaulu Ekho (1922) lumoaa herkillä orkesteriväreillään ja tiheillä tunnelmillaan. Sopraano Anu Komsin tulkinta on intensiivinen, ja Turun filharmonisen orkesterin soitto koko levyllä on erinomaista.”
Lauri Kilpiö · Suomen Kuvalehti
Pessimismin aistillista mannaa
”Sisällissodan kokemuksista nimen Sotasinfonia saanut teos alkaa rempseästi kuin musikaali, mutta vakavoituu rehevän menoisuuden silti säilyttäen. Korkeimmalle kohoaa persoonallisesti aiheitaan hautova hidas osa, johon Petri Sakarin johtama Turun filharmoninen orkesteri virittää murheen ja uupumuksen tuntoja.
[..] Kylmät väreet kulkevat selkäpiissä, kun Anu Komsi esittää Ekhoa, joka huhuilee kuvajaiseensa uppoutunutta Narkissosta. Mikä intohimo, mikä tarkkuus, mikä aistillisuus – mikä teos!”
Jukka
Helsingin Sanomat · Jukka Isopuro
Sotasinfonia ja Narkissos
Edellisellä levyllä Petri Sakarin johtama Turun filharmoninen orkesteri soitti sinfoniat numero 1 ja 3. Nyt vuorossa on vuonna 1918 syntynyt toinen sinfonia, jonka alaotsikko on Sotasinfonia. […] Petri Sakari ja turkulaiset tarttuvat ennakkoluulottomasti teoksen partituuriin ja heittäytyvät impulssiivisesti sen pyörteisiin.
Samoihin aikoihin Sotasinfonian kanssa syntyi myös levyn toinen teos,Ekho, sopraanolle ja orkesterille V.A. Koskenniemen runoon. […] Teos on…
Yle Uudet levyt · Risto Nordell
Aarre MERIKANTO (1893-1958)
Symphony No. 2 in A Major Op.19 (1918) [46:49]
Ekho (1922) [9:50]
Anu Komsi (soprano: Ekho)
Turku Philharmonic Orchestra/Petri Sakari
rec. Turku Concert Hall, 9-13 January 2012
ALBA ABCD351 SACD [57:06]
Aarre Merikanto's stylistic and musical progress was far from straightforward.
MusicWeb International
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