AHO: SYMPHONY NO. 15, etc., Lahti Symphony Orchestra, Osmo Vänskä/BIS SACD 1866  Kalevi Aho is one of the most exciting and prolific composers of our time. He possesses a fertile musical imagination and has a total command of writing for the orchestra as the three works on this superbly recorded SACD demonstrate. ‘Minea’ (Concertante Music for Orchestra) was commissioned by Osmo Vänskä and the Minnesota Orchestra in 2005 and premièred in 2009. The work (whose name is a truncated version of Minneapolis) was conceived as a virtuoso piece that would illustrate the qualities of all the players in that orchestra. Listening to it on this recording played by the Lahti Symphony Orchestra one is left in no doubt that Aho’s aims have been achieved. The work is scored for a huge orchestra – quadruple wind, six horns, four trumpets etc. plus an extensive and exotic percussion section that includes an Arabian hand drum – the darbuka. After a long slow introduction, reminiscent of an Indian raga, the music increases in intensity, and following the entry of the rhythmic percussion, the music gathers pace while taking on an Oriental or Middle-Eastern character. Gradually both the energy and density of the music increase until it reaches its exciting Prestissimo conclusion. Though one can only conjecture what the Minnesota Orchestra might have brought to it, Vänskä and the Lahti players give this impressive piece their all. Aho’s ‘Concerto for Double Bass and Orchestra’ (2005) is in five movements played without a break. Each of the movements seems designed to epitomize a different aspect of the instrument’s qualities and also makes formidable demands on the technique and virtuosity of the soloist. Aho explores all the possibilities of the sounds that a double bass can produce while the lightly scored orchestral accompaniment ensures that the soloist is never overwhelmed. This is a challenging work, but the performance by Eero Munter who commissioned it is surely definitive. The conductor here is Jaakko Kuusisto. I was lucky enough to attend the first performance of Aho’s 15^th Symphony given in the presence of the composer in Manchester by the BBC Philharmonic conducted by Juanjo Mena in 2011. This colourful and striking symphony made an immediate and positive impression both on me and, judging by its reception, on the Bridgewater Hall audience that evening. Though ostensibly written in four movements, the first two are played without a break as are the last two. The titles of the movements (I Nebbia, II Musica bizzarra, III Interludio, and IV Musica Strana) give a brief hint of what each conveys in musical terms. The second and fourth movements are dance-like with strong rhythmic pulses whilst the first and third are more reflective. As usual with Aho the orchestration, with its clear textures, wide dynamics and imaginative use of percussion, is breathtaking. In his excellent liner notes, Aho, with some justification, calls this symphony his ‘apotheosis of the dance’. The performance, conducted here by Dima Slobodeniouk, is most impressive and is captured, like the other items on the disc, in vivid BIS sound quality. This is a most welcome addition to Kalevi Aho’s increasingly valuable discography and can be unhesitatingly recommended.
WAGNER: THE RING: AN ORCHESTRAL ADVENTURE, Royal Swedish Orchestra, Lawrence Renes/BIS SACD 2052  The Royal Swedish Opera has a long and distinguished tradition of Wagner performances, as the eight pages of fascinating photographs in the liner notes of this excellent BIS SACD suggest. The productions illustrated range from a 1908 Götterdämmerung (all horns and winged helmets) to the current, less representational style. This disc, however, is of Wagner without voices and provides the opportunity for the Royal Swedish Orchestra under its current music director, the charismatic conductor Lawrence Renes, to show its mettle in Henk de Vlieger’s hour long synthesis of the Ring entitled ‘The Ring An Orchestral Adventure’. The Dutch composer and percussionist Henk de Vlieger made this arrangement of music from the four operas that make up ‘Der Ring des Nibelungen’ in 1991 at the request of the conductor Edo de Waart, who has championed it many times. Though performed in one continuous movement, it is sub-divided into 14 sections each of which has a title that gives some indication of the key transitions to those already familiar with the story-line of Wagner’s magnum opus. Renes’s performance is finely conceived with a palpable sense of drama and his orchestra obviously includes some excellent musicians including Kristina Kärlin who fearlessly delivers Siegfried’s horn calls ( Tracks 8 and 11) with absolute assurance. One notable feature for those listening in surround, is that in the ‘Nibelheim’ section (Track 3) the ‘Nibelung anvils’ emerge from all speakers, thus immersing the listener in a terrific clangour. Elsewhere the BIS 5.0 channel (96kHz/24-bit) recording places the orchestra between the front speakers with the rears providing some helpful ambient information in the slightly dry acoustic of Stockholm’ s Concert Hall. Rather surprisingly this is the second recording of de Vlieger’s arrangement to appear on SACD. It vies for any prospective purchaser’s attention with the superb Chandos recording made in 2007 by Neeme Järvi and the Royal Scottish National Orchestra . That disc does also include (a somewhat quirky performance) of the Siegfried Idyll. The BIS recording has no fill-up. Making a clear decision between these two SACD is almost impossible as both are recommendable. Some may prefer the gravitas of Renes’s steady pacing against Järvi’s macho and purposeful conducting, but for this listener the committed playing of the RSNO captured by Chandos in a more open and warm acoustic wins the day by a short margin.