Leevi Madetoja - Orchestral Works Vol. 2 (Arvo Volmer)

Information

Composer: Leevi Madetoja

• (01) Symphony No. 1 in F major, Op. 29
• (04) Concert Ouverture, Op. 7a
• (05) Pastoral Suite, Op. 34
• (09) Rustic Scenes, Op. 77

Oulu Symphony Orchestra
Arvo Volmer, conductor

Date: 1999
Label: Alba Records
http://www.alba.fi/en/shop/products/4162

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Review

ARTISTIC QUALITY: 9 / SOUND QUALITY: 9

Volume 2 of Alba’s series featuring Leevi Madetoja’s orchestral works opens with the Symphony No. 1, completed in 1916. It’s a thoroughly enjoyable, masterfully crafted piece composed in a tuneful, tonal idiom–yet thanks to Madetoja’s individual and innovative approach to harmony and orchestration, it is unmistakably a 20th century composition. The Pastoral Suite was composed in the same year as the symphony, yet its simpler language and gentler moods reflect the poetic piano pieces from which it was derived. Madetoja’s adventurous Concert Overture is the one work here that stylistically harkens back to the previous century, while the atmospheric Rustic Scenes reflects the probably unavoidable influence of the composer’s mentor, Jean Sibelius. Arvo Volmer and the Oulu Symphony play this wonderful music with a home-grown authority and whole-hearted enthusiasm, especially in their compelling performance of the symphony. Alba’s sonorous, detailed sound makes this disc a must for Madetoja collectors and novices alike–and for those simply looking for a musical good time.

-- Victor Carr Jr, ClassicsToday

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Leevi Madetoja (17 February 1887, Oulu – 6 October 1947, Helsinki) was a Finnish composer, music critic, conductor, and teacher. He is generally considered to be among the most significant Finnish composers to emerge after Jean Sibelius, with whom he studied. The core of Madetoja's oeuvre consists of a set of three symphonies, two operas, an Elegia for strings, the suite The Garden of Death for solo piano, and the Japanisme ballet-pantomime Okon Fuoko. Acclaimed during his lifetime, Madetoja is today seldom heard outside the Nordic countries, although his music has in recent decades enjoyed a renaissance.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Leevi_Madetoja

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Arvo Volmer (born November 4, 1962 in Tallinn) is an Estonian conductor. Volmer was principal conductor of the Estonian National Symphony Orchestra from 1993 to 2001. From 2004 to 2013 he was Chief Conductor and Music Director of the Adelaide Symphony Orchestra. Since September 2014 he has been the Chief Conductor of the Orchestra Haydn di Bolzano e Trento. Volmer has also been guest conductor of many orchestras, especially in Scandinavia. Among his recordings are the complete orchestral works of Leevi Madetoja and the complete symphonies of Eduard Tubin and Jean Sibelius.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Arvo_Volmer
https://www.arvovolmer.com/

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