MAGNUS LINDBERG (b.1958): Violin Concerto, Jubilees, Souvenir.

Description: The concerto of 2006 is typical of Lindberg's recent works, of the past decade or so, in its harmonic richness and strongly tonal feel. Without any lack of propulsive drive and energy, these works have to some extent replaced the discordant aggression of the 'angry young man' with a more secure and mature dramaturgy. In this work, cast in a continuous span that nevertheless subdivides into the traditional three movements, this is expressed in the taut, sometimes confrontational relationship between soloist and orchestra, reaching transient resolutions in moments of unabashed Romantic sonority and magnificence. The piece was commissioned for the 250th anniversary of Mozart's birth, which is reflected only in the more restrained than usual forces - still handled with sonorous massiveness in tutti - but not in any actual allusions to Mozart. The idiom is unmistakably Lindberg's own, though some intriguing echoes of a previous great Finnish violin concerto - the Sibelius - are present. Jubilees is the composer's adaptation of a set of piano miniatures, inventively and colorfully orchestrated. Strongly contrasted, the six movements share a restlessness of harmony and rhythm. Souvenir (2010) is one of the works written during Lindberg's residency with the NYPO. A chamber symphony in all but name, the work is written for a large ensemble, instrumentally diverse but restricted in numbers, which contributes to the remarkably lucid clarity of the orchestration, with much concerto-for-orchestra-like solo writing, while still allowing for climaxes of neo-romantic opulence and passages of bold, Ravelian color in the central movement. Pekka Kuusisto (violin), Tapiola Sinfonietta; Magnus Lindberg.