Content: Einojuhani Rautavaara Artists: Gabriel Suovanen, baritone Helsinki Philharmonic Orchestra Leif Segerstam, conductor Genres: Orchestral Vocal Features: Booklet with liner notes written by the composer, in English, German, French and Finnish, and the song lyrics in the original language and in English; slipcase |
Format: CD Released: October 2006 (Finland) January 2007 (internationally) Catalogue No.: ODE 1085-2 EAN/UPC Code: 0761195108529 |
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These are important songs by an indispensable composer, realized with one of the most striking performances of a male singer caught on disc in the past year. This is the first anthology on CD of Finnish cult composer Einojuhani Rautavaara's orchestral songs. Rautavaara composed these Shakespeare and Rilke songs in his twenties but revised them later and in recent years when he reaffirmed his love of literature and poetry. The religious and metaphysical dimension in his music is manifest in the song cycle God's Way, a setting of Swedish poetry by Bo Sitterlind. The three final songs are Rautavaara's own excerpts from his opera Aleksis Kivi and employ texts by the great Finnish poet. |