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Label:
  BIS - http://www.bis.se/
Serial:
  BIS-SACD-1676
Title:
  Aho: Symphony No. 12 - Storgårds
Description:
  Kalevi Aho: Symphony No. 12 "Luosto"

Taina Piira (soprano)
Aki Alamikkotervo (tenor)
Hannu Lehtonen (saxophone)
Lahti Symphony Orchestra
Lapland Chamber Orchestra
John Storgårds (conductor)
Track listing:
 
Genre:
  Classical - Orchestral
Content:
  Stereo/Multichannel
Media:
  Hybrid
Recording type:
  PCM
Recording info:
 

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Related titles: 1


 
Reviews: 4 show all

Site review by Geohominid June 21, 2008
Performance:   Sonics:    
The text for this review has been moved to the new site. You can read it here:

http://www.HRAudio.net/showmusic.php?title=5344#reviews

Review by JJ November 6, 2008 (5 of 5 found this review helpful)
Performance:   Sonics:    
Born in 1949 in Fossa, Finland, composer Kalevi Aho studied the violin starting from the age of ten before attacking composing with Einojuhani Rautavaara as his teacher. Today, with four operas, fourteen symphonies, three chamber symphonies for string orchestra, and thirteen concertos under his belt, Kalevi Aho’s work is substantial and cannot be ignored. He is also an author with no fewer than five hundred essays, chronicles and articles under his byline. The program on this remarkable program proposes this contemporary Finnish composer’s Symphony N°12. “My symphony,” he states, “is a work that is exceptional in my production in that it is spatial music composed for the acoustically natural exterior of the slopes of Mount Luosto in the Sodankyla district of Finnish Lapland. In the Luosto “concert hall”, one of the most beautiful in the world and formed in the course of millions of years, on a clear day the view goes for hundreds of kilometers.” What one hears in his Symphony N°12 is prodigious, both for its sound reproduction and musical message. The Finnish composer manages, with rare intelligence, to make a perfect alchemy of rhythms, colors and spacialization. And the SACD format in this case is ideally suited to transmit music that will leave no music lover indifferent. Simply put, here is great art.

Jean-Jacques Millo
Translation Lawrence Schulman

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Review by willemvoorneveld June 15, 2012 (4 of 4 found this review helpful)
Performance:   Sonics:    
The music:
According to the contemporary composer Kalevi Aho, the Luosto symphony should preferably be performed at a specific location outdoors in Finnish Lapland (named Luosto). The composer refers to this as spatial music. This sounds like a very romantic set-up or Sibelius squire.
However the Idea of performing outdoors seems to result from a meeting between the mayor of Sodankylä and a Finnish radio representatives, so not so romantic after all. Based on this request the composer created a symphony that would perform well on the hill of Luosto. All in all a very intriguing starting point.
I found the result very interesting indeed. The composer has used a few exotic instruments in addition to those of two full symphony orchestras and this results in a unusual but also fully convincing experience.
The recording we have at hand was made indoors and the musicians surrounded the listeners.
The opening of the symphony will do well in any HiFi, high-end department store with its heavy Base drum salvo’s, providing the store has a 5.0 setup at hand. Soon after the opening salvo though the music takes another turn and becomes retrospective and intriguing.
I found the vocal contributions (Taina Piira soprano and Aki Alamikkotervo, tenor) very convincing and the Conductor keeps me listening till the last note.
The recording:
As is mentioned in the booklet this SACD can be played in stereo but it does not make sense because from all sides instruments show up. I obtained the best result on my 5.0 system with 5 large speakers. One need Bass capable speakers in all channels. There is no output in the LFE channel.
According to the recording equipment listed one cannot call this a DSD recording since the mikes and first mixing devices seem work in PCM. Nevertheless as with many other BIS recordings, the SACD sounded very good on my audio systems and it becomes even more worthwhile if you have a large listening room at hand. Impressive !
Willem Voorneveld

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Works: 1  

Kalevi Aho - Symphony No. 12 "Luosto"