Saariaho CD’s awarded and released
A CD of Kaija Saariaho’s music has won the BBC Music Magazine’s Jury Award in May 2013. Ondine’s release (ODE 1173-2) features Saariaho’s Clarinet Concerto D’om le vrai sens, orchestral work Laterna Magica and the song cycle Leino Songs. The music is played by Finnish Radio Symphony Orchestra and conductor Sakari Oramo, with Kari Kriikku (clarinet) and Anu Komsi (soprano) as soloists.
Ondine has released another major work by Kaija Saariaho in early 2013. The oratorio La Passion de Simone (2006), is now available for the first time on CD. Ondine’s new release was recorded live in connection with a concert last autumn in Helsinki, with Finnish Radio Philharmonic Orchestra, Tapiola Chamber Choir, conductor Esa-Pekka Salonen and soprano Dawn Upshaw.
Saariaho’s music is also on Anssi Karttunen’s “Mystery Variations” CD, released by Toccata Classics in January. The album includes 31 variations on one of the oldest cello works, Chiacona per basso solo by Giuseppe Colombi (1635–94), composed by 31 contemporary composers around the world, including eight Finns – Jouni Kaipainen, Jukka Tiensuu, Esa-Pekka Salonen, Paavo Heininen, Veli-Matti Puumala, Kaija Saariaho, Tapio Tuomela and Magnus Lindberg.