Rautavaara: Lost Landscapes

 

Truth be told, I was most interested in the shortest work on this recording. Apparently, Finnish composer Einojuhani Rautavaara was commissioned  to compose a piece to open a symphony concert. If you know the music of Rautavaara, his compositions are not known for their surging excitement, at least as an overture or fanfare might. And yet, he does it successfully, all the while staying true to his style. That, and what a fantastic title considering all of the above - In the Beginning. Odd, this one wasn't programmed first on the recording.

The big work here is the multi-movement Lost Landscapes, here given its recorded premiere in its concertante form with string orchestra and solo violin. Unlike Before the Icons, which was orchestrated from its original piano solo state as Icons, where Rautavaara added music to what existed before, here he stays true to the original violin / piano score in Lost Landscapes, simply expanding the piano part into strings.

Rautavaara pays homage to significant places from his past and gives them musical portraits, set across four titled movements. While the music works well enough in this new orchestral guise, I wish the composer had added winds and percussion, for the string orchestra portion becomes rather bland considering what he has created for string orchestra beforehand. Perhaps bland is too harsh of a term, but this sounds an awful lot like music he has written before, just without the extra color from a symphonic ensemble. Only the final New York movement offers the listener a taste of surging energy, compounding the feeling of eternal slowly shifting harmonies in the first three movements.

I could almost say the same for Deux Sérénades, although the diptych comes in two contrasting parts; a con amour and a con vivre section. The Fantasia has a wider musical journey across its 12-13 minutes, erupting in surprising heroism at its musical climax following some concertante strife. The Fantasia also contains some of the harshest harmonies located at its very outset, an aspect which doesn't really rear it head again in this recording. How odd the composer adds marimba in its closing moments, an area in the music where Rautavaara merely shifts back and forth between just a few slow-moving chords, although I enjoy the unexpected percussive color.

I wonder if I would enjoy this whole program more if it contained a mixture of early and late works from Rautavaara. Listening as a 60-minute recital gives a certain sense of sameness I remember from his wind concertos. If approaching this music, I might suggest listening to each work in isolation so as to not become over-saturated with the late style of Rautavaara.

With that in mind, I think everything here is successful. The Malmö Symphony Orchestra is a beautiful sounding ensemble, and the US conductor Robert Trevino seems to lead this music with great warmth. The violin playing of Simone Lamsma is sweet and silvery, with a light vibrato, but a little cool in temperament. One could imagine her digging in with a little more fire in places, or with a broader tone, to at least offer some variety across the program. Otherwise, this is a wonderful album of Rautavaara violin concertante works, which in some cases is the only place to hear some of this music.

 

 

 

Works
Fantasia (12.34)
In the Beginning (5.01)
Deux Sérénades (14.58)
Lost Landscapes (24.03)

Ensembles
Malmö Symphony Orchestra

Robert Treviño, conductor 

Label: Ondine
Year: 2022
Total Timing: 57.32

Not a runaway hit for me, but I think listening to these works in isolation will have more success in the future, rather than as a 60-minute program.

One certainly cannot find fault in these performers, who do Rautavaara's late style concertante works wonderful justice.

 

Find more Rautavaara recordings HERE!