For over thirty years, Ondine has remained true to its founding principle, the uncompromising devotion to excellence in recorded music. The label's mission is to support new creative efforts in the field of contemporary music, and to showcase renditions by top-rank artists which bring a new dimension to established works of the classical repertoire.
Lars Vogt & Christian Tetzlaff,
© Giorgia Bertazzi
Building on the extraordinary abundance of musical talent in Finland, Ondine has, since its beginnings, maintained a strong commitment to championing the best in Finnish contemporary music and world-class Finnish artists. Hence, the company has extensively collaborated with living composers such as Magnus Lindberg and Kaija Saariaho as well as the late Einojuhani Rautavaara. A prestigious roster of artists such as star sopranos Karita Mattila and Soile Isokoski, pianists Olli Mustonen and Paavali Jumppanen, clarinetist Kari Kriikku, guitarist Timo Korhonen and violinist Pekka Kuusisto, to name only a few, has contributed to establish Ondine as the face of Finland on the international market of recorded classical music.
Hannu Lintu © Heikki Tuuli
In synergy with the increasing presence of Finnish artists and composers on the international stage, Ondine has, in parallel, developed its international profile by recording with star artists such as Christian Tetzlaff, Frank Peter Zimmermann, Midori, Lars Vogt, Truls Mørk, and Dmitri Hvorostovsky. Prestigious ensembles include Latvian Radio Choir, Estonian Philharmonic Chamber Choir and Meta4 Quartet, among others.
Recording nearly the complete works by late Einojuhani Rautavaara has remained one of Ondine's great successes. A real boom began with the release of the best-selling CD "Angel of Light" (ODE 869-2) in 1996. Contemporary composers from other countries with whom Ondine has closely collaborated include Erkki-Sven Tüür, Peteris Vasks, Rolf Wallin, and Julian Anderson.
Kaija Saariaho © Priska Ketterer
Orchestral recordings have been in the forefront of Ondine's output. Strong partnerships have linked Ondine to the Finnish Radio Symphony Orchestra, Helsinki Philharmonic Orchestra, Tampere Philharmonic and the Tapiola Sinfonietta, and in addition to the Orchestre de Paris and The Philadelphia Orchestra. Ondine recordings feature conductors such as Hannu Lintu, Esa-Pekka Salonen, Leif Segerstam, Sakari Oramo, John Storgårds, Jukka-Pekka Saraste, Mikko Franck, Vladimir Ashkenazy, Christoph Eschenbach, Jaime Martín, Oliver Knussen and Paavo Berglund.
Magnus Lindberg © Philip Gatward
Ondine's reputation is founded on its high standards of sound quality, sculptured essentially by sound engineer Enno Mäemets and producers Seppo Siirala and Laura Heikinheimo. Currently all recordings are, naturally, made in high resolution.
Ondine celebrated its 30th anniversary in 2015, and continues to demonstrate great prowess in the creation, performance and preservation of recorded music.
