Einojuhani Rautavaara - Symphony No. 3; Manhattan Trilogy (Leif Segerstam)

Information

Composer: Einojuhani Rautavaara

1. Manhattan Trilogy: I. Daydreams
2. Manhattan Trilogy: II. Nightmares
3. Manhattan Trilogy: III. Dawn
4. Symphony No. 3: I. Langsam, breit, ruhig
5. Symphony No. 3: II. Langsam, doch nicht schleppend
6. Symphony No. 3: III. Sehr schnell
7. Symphony No. 3: IV. Bewegt

Helsinki Philharmonic Orchestra
Leif Segerstam, conductor
Date: 2008
Label: Ondine
https://www.ondine.net/index.php?lid=en&cid=2.2&oid=3488

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Review

ARTISTIC QUALITY: 10 / SOUND QUALITY: 10

As Rautavaara points out in his comments about the Third Symphony (1961), there is no reason why the use of 12-tone technique as musical substructure should be any more evident to the listener than the tonal operations underlying the Bruckner symphonies that inspired this particular work. In both cases, the formal element exists to support the music’s expressive purpose, and recognition of this basic point leaves the composer free to focus on communication rather than composing a piece that does little more than reveal its own structural skeleton. The result, in my opinion, is one of the genuine 20th-century masterpieces in the form. All you need to know to follow the argument is that the opening motive, clearly modeled on the beginning of Bruckner’s Fourth Symphony (with added woodwind arabesques), figures prominently in each of the work’s four movements. As for the rest, you simply sit back and enjoy its four elegantly proportioned and by no means taxingly long parts.

Manhattan Trilogy dates from 2004 and commemorates the composer’s period of study at the Juilliard School in the 1950s (on Sibelius’ recommendation). Its three linked movements–Daydreams, Nightmares, and Dawn–make up an impressionist portrait of a young composer’s hopes and fears. The central nightmares are aptly hallucinatory, but the music is predominantly soft-edged and dreamy, full of those luminous string textures typical of Rautavaara’s late works. It goes without saying that the performances, typical of this series, are absolutely first class. Leif Segerstam and the Helsinki Philharmonic continue to deliver world-beating results with music in which they obviously have a proprietary interest. This is actually the second recording of the Third Symphony for Ondine, and it’s just that much better played and certainly better recorded than its otherwise excellent Leipzig predecessor. Manhattan Trilogy is certainly ravishing, but the Symphony really deserves to enter the repertoire of orchestras the world-over. And if you love Bruckner, even a little, you must hear it. [1/22/2008]

-- David Hurwitz, ClassicsToday

More reviews:
http://www.gramophone.co.uk/review/rautavaara-manhattan-trilogy-symphony-no-3
http://www.classical-music.com/review/rautavaara-18
http://www.allmusic.com/album/rautavaara-manhattan-trilogy-symphony-no-3-mw0001857640
https://www.amazon.com/Rautavaara-Manhattan-Trilogy-Symphony-3/dp/B0012L2K9U

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Einojuhani Rautavaara (9 October 1928 – 27 July 2016) was a Finnish composer of classical music. He is among the most notable Finnish composers since Jean Sibelius. Rautavaara wrote a great number of works spanning various styles. These include 8 symphonies, 9 operas and 12 concerti, as well as numerous vocal and chamber works. Having written early works using 12-tone serial techniques, his later music may be described as Neo-romantic and mystical. Almost all of Rautavaara's works have been recorded by Ondine. Some of his major works have also been recorded by Naxos and BIS.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Einojuhani_Rautavaara

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Leif Segerstam (born 2 March 1944 in Vaasa, Ostrobothnia, Finland) is a Finnish conductor, composer, violinist, violist and pianist, especially known for his 309 symphonies, along with his other works in his extensive œuvre. Segerstam has conducted in a variety of orchestras since 1963, mostly American, Australian and European orchestras. He is widely known through his recorded discography, which includes the complete symphonies of Blomdahl, Brahms, Mahler, Nielsen, and Sibelius, as well as many works by contemporary composer.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Leif_Segerstam

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