Search - Petteri Salomaa, Kaija Saariaho, Hannu Lintu :: Kaija Saariaho: From the Grammar of Dreams

Fish the night

J. Willson | 06/30/2003

(4 out of 5 stars)

"I loooooove Saariaho, but I couldn't get into this album the first few times I listened to it. The main reason is that I personally loathe the sound of the human voice in constructions such as lieder, or "songs", etc. And apparently Saariaho's early compositions were vocal ones. Now, her case is different. Her use of the voice in mostly sonic environments is really sublime, like the vocal techniques used in Maa, her ballet piece. So, I thought, what the hell? This must be good too. Unfortunately, the pieces on this CD are composed for traditional instruments, guitar, flute, harp, etc. and must represent some new trend in S.'s music. However, I gave it another chance and it is slowly growing on me, even the songs in English, which is a terrible language for such things anyhoo, methinks. Now I can say that it was worth purchasing it, as all of S.'s works are."

Trust me, you want this.

J. Willson | Central Iowa USA | 09/04/2005

(5 out of 5 stars)

"I loved this recording. Anu Komsi, the soprano in 14 of the

15 tracks, has one of those voices that are a real thrill to

hear. Her voice is pure, with a full-throated presence

that just grabs your attention. Also, her intonation is superb, and

her phrasing is always ideal from a purely musical point of view, even

in the most difficult passages, with never an ugly note. At the same

time, her diction is quite fine in four languages, and her nuances

respect their natural rhythms, so that it is quite easy to be drawn

into the poems. Hannu Lintu's conducting is rhythmically taut and

unaffected, and the other performers are likewise flawless, as is the

recorded sound.



Voice with small instrumental ensemble is one of the best media for

expressing musical ideas about tone color, for the texts give point to

the unusual combinations of sound, the instruments are at their most

characteristic, and the essential aspects of music are emphasized --

melody, counterpoint, rhythmic variation. As such, the music on this

disk is more appealing to me than much of Saariaho's orchestral music,

which can get repetitive in its rhythms and thick in texture, and also

somewhat static. My favorite piece here is Miranda's Lament, which

enters into a sound world similar to Debussy's Sonata for Flute,

Viola, and Harp, and seems along with its companion piece to perfectly

recreate the mysterious mood of Shakespeare's Tempest. Yet every piece

here is excellent, and I cannot say with confidence which is truly best

or worst. This was chosen Record of the Year by the Finnish Broadcasting

Company, and proves that somebody there has taste."