Artist: Sonja Fräki​
Title: Kalevi Aho: Works For Solo Piano
Year Of Release: 2015
Label: BIS
Genre: Classical
Quality: FLAC (tracks + booklet)
Total Time: 01:13:08
Total Size: 250 MB

Tracklist:

1. No. 1, Tranquillo (1:37)
2. No. 2, Allegro vivace (0:28)
3. No. 3, Semplice (1:44)
4. No. 4, Presto (2:19)
5. No. 5, Grave (2:14)
6. No. 6, Maestoso (1:33)
7. No. 7, Presto (2:05)
8. No. 8, Allegretto (1:16)
9. No. 9, Lento assai (2:11)
10. No. 10, Prestissimo (1:22)
11. No. 11, Andante (0:56)
12. No. 12, Allegro - Maestoso (2:03)
13. No. 13, Allegretto (1:34)
14. No. 14, Grave (1:58)
15. No. 15, Moderato grazioso (1:40)
16. No. 16, Moderato (2:03)
17. No. 17, Andante - Allegro - Adagio (3:09)
18. No. 18, Lento assai, esitante (2:57)
19. No. 19, Tranquillo (1:54)
20. No. 1, Maestoso (2:11)
21. No. 2, Tranquillo (1:11)
22. No. 3, Maestoso (0:40)
23. No. 1, Andante (1:30)
24. No. 2, Allegretto (0:47)
25. I. Toccata. Presto (1:39)
26. II. Andante (2:48)
27. III. Prestissimo (2:00)
28. Solo II (10:57)
29. I. — (3:20)
30. II. Allegro molto (3:19)
31. III. Tranquillo molto (7:58)

Known particularly for his orchestral output – 16 symphonies and 21 concertos to date! – the Finnish composer Kalevi Aho was recently described in Gramophone as having ‘a strong claim to the title of greatest living symphonist’. But as followers of the ongoing releases of his music on BIS will know, Aho has also composed a large number of works for smaller forces – quartets and quintets, duos and solo pieces

On the present disc, the Finnish pianist Sonja Fräki presents Kalevi Aho’s output for solo piano. The disc opens with Aho’s earliest published work, the Nineteen Preludes from 1965-68, including a first version of Prelude No. 8 from 1963. These works display a characteristic fascination with the virtuosic and technically brilliant side of music-making; this quality comes to the fore in the Sonata, with its sparkling first movement and percussive, toccata-like second movement followed by a searching Tranquillo molto, characterized by a trill which continues almost without interruption throughout the movement. Commissioned as a set piece for a piano competition, Solo II is likewise a challenge for any pianist, and forms part of a series of big (roughly ten-minute) solo works for various instruments, of which several have been recorded by BIS.