Pekka Kuusisto & Joonas Ahonen – Symmetria Pario : Creation (45RPM)
Prix habituel
€59,00
NOUS NE POUVONS PAS NOUS ENGAGER SUR UNE DATE DE LIVRAISON POUR LES VINYLES & CD/SACD EN PRE-COMMANDE
Les Labels prennent parfois plusieurs mois pour livrer les vinlyes & CD/SACD en pré-commande
La TVA est incluse dans le prix pour les pays de l'Union Européenne, et ajustée sur la base du pays de destination au moment du paiement.
L'expédition est gratuite au sein de l'Union Européenne au dessus de 99€ d'achat, sauf pour certaines destinations, et jusqu'à 50kg. Au dessus de 50kg, frais d'expédition sur demande à contact@audiosounmusic.com. Il n'y a pas de politique de retour pour les pays hors Union Européenne.
Violin - Pekka Kuusisto
Piano - Joonas Ahonen
Composed by Clarice Assad (A1), Yuko Mabuchi (B1), Ricky Kej (B2)
1 LP, standard sleeve
Original analog Master tape : YES
Heavy Press : 180g
Record color : black
Speed : 45 RPM
Size : 12'’
Stereo
Studio
Record Press : unspecified
Label : Yarlung
Original Label : Yarlung
Recorded August 5 & 6, 2022 in Samueli Theater at Seagerstrom Center for the Arts in Costa Mesa, California
Engineered by Bob Attiyeh & Arian Jansen
Mastered by Steve Hoffman, Arian Jansen, Bob Attiyeh
Vinyl mastering by Bernie Grundman
Executive Producers - Diane & Craig Martin
Originally released in 2023
Tracks:
Side A:
- Symmetries
Side B:
- Evolution of the One
- Arambhah
Reviews:
When you take contemporary compositions from nine different composers (six of which were commissioned for your recital), and you add the brilliant artistry of Pekka Kuusisto and Joonas Ahonen, and you record it in a world class, acoustically magnificent music hall using some of the best microphones and recording equipment available, and you then mix it all together with the musical sensibilities of recording engineer and producer Bob Attiyeh… YOU GET MAGIC!
After listening through this album for the first time, my immediate reaction was to stand and cheer.
Bob Attiyeh had told me that he thought this might be the best sounding recording Yarlung has yet released. I thought to myself, “Naw…, this is just your most recent child and you love it because of that.” But no. Bob is right. Sonically, this album is a masterpiece. Musically it is equally compelling.
Executive producer Russell Ward generously underwrote six new commissions for this recording by Yarlung. The challenge to the composers was to explore various stories about the moment of creation through music. The composers, knowing that their compositions would be performed by Finnish violinist Pekka Kuusisto and firebrand virtuoso pianist Joonas Ahonen, who often perform together in concert, all eagerly engaged in the creative work.
The album opens with a dazzling start as Symmetries, by multi-Grammy nominated composer Clarice Assad, takes command of one’s senses. The technical virtuosity of both violinist and pianist are immediately challenged, and we are rewarded with a feast of sonic complexities. Mehmet Sanliko’s Seven Sufi Vignettes then pull us into a more reflective, meditative, interlude, with its own distinctive mix of sonorities and rhythms, while not avoiding a central section of great power and urgency.
Kuusisto and Ahonen drive through these waves of musical complexities with technical assurance and common purpose, each sounding well-attuned to supporting and complementing the other. These first two tracks are a bit more than 22 minutes of thoroughly engaging discovery.
In the third track we come upon the delightful composition Evolution of the One by pianist and composer Yuko Mabuchi, well known to Yarlung listeners for her superb jazz recordings Yuko Mabuchi Trio and Yuko Mabuchi plays Miles Davis. Somewhat quirky, syncopated, with sound flavors from flamenco to bebop, this is just a cornucopia of joyful creativity as it rolls from one set of ideas to the next. Bob Attiyeh writes that “Pekka and Joonas could not stop grinning while playing this work, especially during their improvisatory sections.”
I could continue offering snippets of my thoughts about each track, but I think I’ll stop with this final thought… So much of my enjoyment of this album comes from the huge variety and range of cultural influences brought to this project. Each composer brings a unique background, a different ethnic heritage, a different cultural milieu which they have experienced in their lives. The music reflects the extensive range and diversity of our human experience and musical heritages. This is, for me, the huge gift that Bob Attiyeh and executive producer Russell Ward have so graciously shared with us. Add to this the excellent and very interesting musical works, the exemplary musicianship, and the wonderous sonics of the recording, and what we have is a treasure of an album. One word of advice: there are a lot of very soft, highly complex, passages for violin in many of these compositions, particularly the final work by Hannah Kendall. Your undivided attention in a quiet listening space, with perhaps a touch higher volume, will be rewarded.
I am delighted and thrilled to now have this in my music library! I most highly recommend it to you. By Yarlung News Russell Ward, executive producer.
More information about the musicians
Finnish violinist Pekka Kuusisto is artistic director of the Norwegian Chamber Orchestra and principal guest conductor and artistic co-director of the Helsinki Philharmonic Orchestra beginning in the 2023 – 24 season. As a soloist, he has appeared with the Berlin Philharmonic, Cleveland Orchestra, Cincinnati Symphony, Philharmonia, and Tokyo Metropolitan Symphony, and is in residence at the Basel Symphony. He plays the Antonio Stradivari Golden Period ca.1709 “Scotta” violin, generously loaned by a patron through Tarisio.
Finnish pianist Joonas Ahonen, who now resides in Vienna, may be known through his many recordings on the BIS and Ondine labels. He specializes in Romantic and Classical repertoire and records Beethoven and Mendelssohn on fortepiano, but he regularly premiers contemporary works by modern composers. He is a member of Klangforum Wien, one of today’s leading ensembles for contemporary music, and he regularly collaborates with the violinist Patricia Kopatchinskaja.