Ondine ODE1405-2
Simone Lamsma, violin; Malmö SO; Robert Trevino, conductor
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Lost Landscapes is the title of one of the last pieces composed by the Finnish composer Einojuhani Rautavaara. It’s a violin concerto based upon reminiscences of places that were of great importance to Rautavaara’s creative journey in the mid-1950s. The first is Tanglewood, where Rautavaara worked with Copland, the second is Ascona in Switzerland, the third his Vienna lodgings (an 18th century palace that was something of a relic), and the fourth his apartment in New York.
The works on the recording all date from after Rautavaara’s recovery from an aortic dissection, an event that kept him in hospital for six months in 2004. They all have a calm and nostalgic peace about their character with sweeping melodies above buoyant accompaniment textures. The performances from violinist Simone Lamsma and the Malmö Symphony Orchestra are clear and beautiful under the direction of Robert Trevino. This recording is a relaxing and moving survey of the late music of the most important Finnish composer of the latter part of the 20th century.
James Nightingale