Lahti Symphony Orchestra & Dalia Stasevska – Helvi Leiviskä: Orchestral Works Vol. 1 (2023)
FLAC (tracks) 24 bit/96 kHz | Time – 01:02:37 minutes | 1,07 GB | Genre: Classical
Studio Masters, Official Digital Download | Front Cover | © BIS
Conductor Dalia Stasevka who received the BBC Music Magazine’s ‘Personality of the Year’ Award in 2023 and the Lahti Symphony Orchestra present three works by the Finnish composer Helvi Leiviska, who was Finland’s first major female composer. Initially inspired by the language of late Romanticism – she mentioned Brahms as her favourite composer – Leiviska developed an original, modern style that eschewed all schools, convinced that it was more important to tread one’s own path than to follow fashionable styles. While her output may seem small in terms of quantity, it more than makes up for it in the quality of the works, especially her symphonies, a genre she considered ‘the highest manifestation of music’. This disc presents three works: the Sinfonia Brevis, a confidently crafted work reminiscent of Sibelius; the austere, restrained, melancholy and at times very dissonant Symphony No. 2, which could be called ‘tragic’; and the Suite for orchestra No. 2, which uses material from a powerfully descriptive score originally composed for a film. This recording bears witness to the ‘Leiviska renaissance’ that has taken place in recent years, which has contributed to the rediscovery of a neglected but important voice in Finnish music.
Tracklist:
1. Lahti Symphony Orchestra & Dalia Stasevska – Leiviskä: Sinfonia brevis, Op. 30 (12:51)
2. Lahti Symphony Orchestra & Dalia Stasevska – Leiviskä: Orchestral Suite No. 2, Op. 11: I. Kevään tulo (The Coming of Spring) (06:58)
3. Lahti Symphony Orchestra & Dalia Stasevska – Leiviskä: Orchestral Suite No. 2, Op. 11: II. Humoreski (Humoresque) (03:09)
4. Lahti Symphony Orchestra & Dalia Stasevska – Leiviskä: Orchestral Suite No. 2, Op. 11: III. Kehtolaulu (Lullaby) (04:03)
5. Lahti Symphony Orchestra & Dalia Stasevska – Leiviskä: Orchestral Suite No. 2, Op. 11: IV. Epilogi (Epilogue) (06:44)
6. Lahti Symphony Orchestra & Dalia Stasevska – Leiviskä: Symphony No. 2, Op. 27: I. Andantino quasi allegretto – Più animato e ritmico (07:27)
7. Lahti Symphony Orchestra & Dalia Stasevska – Leiviskä: Symphony No. 2, Op. 27: II. Allegro molto (09:29)
8. Lahti Symphony Orchestra & Dalia Stasevska – Leiviskä: Symphony No. 2, Op. 27: III. Andante cantabile (11:53)
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