Magnus LINDBERG (b.1958)

Clarinet Concerto, Gran Duo, Chorale

Kari Kriikku (clarinet); Finnish Radio Symphony Orchestra/Sakari Oramo

 

Ondine releases the world-premiere recording of Magnus Lindberg’s Clarinet Concerto played by Kari Kriikku, one of the leading musicians of 1980s’ Finnish Modernism. His collaboration with Magnus Lindberg is comparable to other great partnerships between composer and clarinettist in the history of music, think Mozart and Stadler, and Kriikku has been involved in the emergence of many of Lindberg’s works. Quintetto dell’estate (1979), Linea d’ombra (1981), Ablauf (1983/88), UR (1986), Steamboat Bill Jr. (1990), Duo concertante (1990/92) or the mini-concerto Away (1994) are all but inseparable from Kriikku’s rich, virtuoso clarinet sound.

Kari Kriikku was closely involved in the creation of the Clarinet Concerto (2002) and the composer tried out new ideas with him on the phone and face to face. Lindberg worked at his summer cottage and delivered new passages to his soloist by boat. It is not very far-fetched to say that the Clarinet Concerto was nurtured by sea and sun!

The Clarinet Concerto was commissioned by the Finnish Broadcasting Company (YLE) for its 75th anniversary and Kari Kriikku with the Finnish Radio Symphony Orchestra under Jukka-Pekka Saraste premiered the work in September 2002.

Gran Duo for 13 winds and 11 brass was premiered by the CBSO under Sir Simon Rattle on the orchestra’s visit to London in March 2000. Gran Duo can be seen as a dialogue between two sections of the orchestra, each instrument contributing idiomatic material: the woodwind tense in their high registers and the brass as a stabilising element in their low registers.

Chorale (2001–2002) was premiered by The Philharmonia and Esa-Pekka Salonen in Leicester. It was programmed with Berg’s Violin Concerto: appropriate as both works make use of the Bach chorale Es ist genug. Lindberg has made a habit of alluding to other composers’ work, particularly to Baroque music, but in Chorale Bach is a constant presence.

 

Here's a wonderful trio of pieces by one of Finland's finest contemporary composers. The Clarinet Concerto (2000), written for and played by Kari Kriikku is a single-movement work that draws on the sound of the solo instrument creating different levels of intensity and texture. The language is modern without being abrasive and the performance couldn't be bettered.

Gramophone

 

Ondine ODE10382