Notes and Editorial Reviews
LINDHOLM
Sea Air. Concertino Carelia. Concertino Orlando. Lapland. Cello Ritornello. Happy Days. Goodbye
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Herbert Lindholm, Päivi Kukkonen, Susanna Bunda (fl); Markku Kaakso (gtr); Anna Carlson (vn); Rauno Tikkanen (cl); Natalia Sadovnitchaia (hpd); Heidi Väisänen (vc); Amko Strings; Open Sinfonietta; Rauno Tikkanen, cond
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PILFINK JJVCD-74 (00:00)
This is my first exposure to the music of Finnish composer Herbert Lindholm, a flutist who worked as the chief flute teacher at the Kuopio
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Conservatory from 1969 until 2009. His music is freely tonal and exceptionally melodic with an added touch of Impressionism in it, though by no means overdoing that particular effect. Not all of the works here are equally affecting, but they should be mentioned nonetheless. Most of Lindholm’s music involves the flute, and that happens here as well.
Sea Air
, which uses guitar along with flute, is more abstract than and ultimately not as ingratiating as some of the other pieces, though it is by no means bad.
Happy Days
for flute and strings uses a call-and-response from the flute to the orchestra with a short melodic motive that then elaborates more fully into some rhapsodic passages for the flute—whether this proves happy will have to be up to the listener.
Lapland
is a ballade for two flutes and strings, and is a bouncy, well-done work that lies easy on the flutes and in no way provokes them into anything artificial or unidiomatic.
Artificial is what we get in the
Concertino Orlando
for solo clarinet, harpsichord, and strings, in that the clarinet gets to engage in multiphonics, as abysmal a technique as has ever been invented for woodwinds (it involves overblowing to produce simultaneous harmonics-based harmony), though here it is quick and tasteful and tonal, and the piece itself quite neoclassical in tone—perhaps my favorite on this disc.
Concertino Carelia
on the other hand seems to lack knowledge of real violin technique, and the instrument sounds misplaced and wasted in context.
The
Cello Ritornello
makes use of the instrument in a concertante manner, commenting on the orchestra part without ever really integrating itself into the latter’s activities—I enjoyed this very much. But the best work here is also the one without solo instruments, the abstract and rather tonally expressionistic piece called
Goodbye
. The work would not be out of place on a concert with Schoenberg’s
Verklarte Nacht
, though it is not as thick and manically active in the harmonic realm as that little masterpiece. But the tone is the same and the similar substance of each finds lots of common ground. I wish more of the album had been like this, assuming that Lindholm has any other little chestnuts like this lying around.
The Amko Strings is the chamber orchestra of the Kuopio Conservatory, while the Open Sinfonietta consists of teachers of the same admixed with members of the Kuopio Symphony and supplemented with talented violin students. All play very well and can be proud of their efforts.
FANFARE: Steven E. Ritter
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Works on This Recording
1.
Sea Air, Fantasy for flute, guitar & strings, Op. 41 by Herbert Lindholm
Performer:
Markku Laasko (Guitar),
Herbert Lindholm (Flute)
Conductor:
Rauno Tikkanen
Orchestra/Ensemble:
Amko Strings
Written: 2004
Date of Recording: 05/2009
Venue: Kuopio Music Centre
Length: 12 Minutes 32 Secs.
4.
Lapland, Ballade for 2 flutes & strings, Op. 62 by Herbert Lindholm
Performer:
Paivi Kukkonen (Flute),
Susanna Bunda (Flute)
Conductor:
Rauno Tikkanen
Orchestra/Ensemble:
Amko Strings
Written: 2007
Date of Recording: 05/2009
Venue: Kuopio Music Centre
Length: 7 Minutes 8 Secs.
5.
Cello Ritornello, for solo cello & strings, Op. 69 by Herbert Lindholm
Performer:
Heidi Vaisanen (Cello)
Conductor:
Rauno Tikkanen
Orchestra/Ensemble:
Amko Strings
Written: 2008
Date of Recording: 05/2009
Venue: Kuopio Music Centre
Length: 7 Minutes 20 Secs.
6.
Happy Days, for flute & strings, Op. 68 by Herbert Lindholm
Performer:
Paivi Kukkonen (Flute)
Conductor:
Rauno Tikkanen
Orchestra/Ensemble:
Amko Strings
Written: 2008
Date of Recording: 05/2009
Venue: Kuopio Music Centre
Length: 3 Minutes 53 Secs.
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