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Sallinen: Symphonies 3 and 5

R. Wood | Toronto, Canada | 08/17/2008

(5 out of 5 stars)

"For some years I have come to regard Sallinen as the greatest living composer; the lack of performances in the West is truly deplorable. Most of his music is now available through Amazon.com.

To me, the third symphony is his `Eroica', though the opposite of Beethoven's in its sense of universal tragedy: his great breakthrough masterpiece. The fifth symphony continues to amaze me. It was composed for the Washington Symphony Orchestra (commissioned by Rostropovich). Did the audience expect something cheerful? What they got is a work full of rage at what is being allowed to happen in our world - it's perhaps the most difficult of the eight symphonies (so far) to come to terms with, as it's so uncompromising.

For newcomers to Sallinen I would suggest symphonies 4,6 and 8. (I read No.8 as his symphony about global warming - it's heartbreaking). Sallinen's admirers of course need not hesitate!"