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Rautavaara Manhattan Trilogy premiered in New York

(October 2005)

"Rautavaara, the patriarch of contemporary Finnish composers, is much loved internationally these days, and for good reason." So wrote the New York Times reviewing the successful world premiere of Rautavaara’s new orchestral work, Manhattan Trilogy, commissioned by the Juilliard School for its orchestra’s centenary concert at Carnegie Hall conducted by Dennis Russell Davies. The composer studied in the 1950s at Juilliard and his time in New York provided a dramatic contrast to his experiences as a youth in wartime Finland, opening up new vistas of promise and possibility, though tinged with uncertainties.

"His three-movement, 20-minute work is a reminiscence of the hopes and anxieties of his student years…The outer movements, Daydreams and Dawn, are cast in consonant but freely modulating chord progressions, with achingly beautiful solo lines darting through the thick textures. Even the central Nightmares movement, though darker and more freely dissonant, often has a lush quality."
New York Times

Rautavaara’s Book of Visions has just been released on CD by Ondine, featuring the Belgian National Orchestra conducted by Mikko Franck (ODE 1064-5), and receives its UK premiere on a Royal Scottish National Orchestra tour under Stéphane Denève in April.

Ondine has also released the composer’s most recent opera, Rasputin, on DVD (ODV 4002) drawing glowing praise from Opera News: "…a genuine masterpiece… Rautavaara’s libretto is poetic and his music is a unique blend of tonality and modernist elements… Matti Salminen in the title role dominates the stage whenever he appears on it, demonstrating why this is one of the most important bass-baritone roles to be created within the past century."

Rasputin will receive its German premiere in a new production in Lübeck on 3 February 2006 with performances running through to April.

Photos: Ondine Records

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