COMPOSERS: Segerstam
LABELS: Ondine
WORKS: Symphony No. 18; Epitaph No. 6; Impressions of Nordic Nature No. 4; Flowerbouquette No. 43E
PERFORMER: Hannele Segerstam (violin), Pia Segerstam (cello); Danish National RSO, Malmö SO, Finnish RSO/Leif Segerstam
CATALOGUE NO: ODE 877-2
‘Give me some music paper and a piano, and out it flows.’ Leif Segerstam (b1944) is a man of imposing energy. ‘If he were a painter, watercolours would not be his medium: he would lay on colour thickly with a palette knife in the manner of Vincent Van Gogh, or spill paint on canvas like Jackson Pollock,’ writes Kimmo Korhonen in the CD’s booklet. He thinks in large spans, he uses the orchestra to physical effect, he’s not shy to indulge his fantasies and dreams. I remember him twenty years ago as a lean post-Expressionist. The works on this disc (1992-3), delicate, violent, written at white heat – the symphony took just over a week – suggest another, altogether different cosmos of neo-impressionist sound mobiles, tangibly visual in their floating imagery. Recorded in concert, the sound engineering vibrantly mirrors the creative experience. Ates Orga
Segerstam: Symphony No. 18; Epitaph No. 6; Impressions of Nordic Nature No. 4; Flowerbouquette No. 43E
‘Give me some music paper and a piano, and out it flows.’ Leif Segerstam (b1944) is a man of imposing energy. ‘If he were a painter, watercolours would not be his medium: he would lay on colour thickly with a palette knife in the manner of Vincent Van Gogh, or spill paint on canvas like Jackson Pollock,’ writes Kimmo Korhonen in the CD’s booklet. He thinks in large spans, he uses the orchestra to physical effect, he’s not shy to indulge his fantasies and dreams. I remember him twenty years ago as a lean post-Expressionist.
Our rating
5
Published: January 20, 2012 at 2:33 pm