WAYLTL - Lindberg

[Ed Presson]

Magnus Lindberg: Al largo (2009-2010); Cello Concerto No. 2 (2013); Era
(2012)
Finnish Radio Symphony Orchestra, Hannu Lintu, conductor. Ondine SACD
1281-5

I'll confess that I had great difficulty coming to terms with my first
encounters with the music of Magnus Lindberg: a DG
recording of Aura, and Engine conducted by Oliver Knussen, and a Sony CD of
Cantigas, Cello Concerto, Parada, and
Fresco conducted by Esa-Pekka Salonen. I could sense, but not grasp, the
rock-solid structure underlying the busy
surface activity (often unattractive, to me). But the works fascinated my
and I persisted, then began to collect more
of his work. The composer described these works as "carved in stone."

About a decade later, the composer became more attracted to the music of
early 20th Century masters of orchestral music.
With his Piano Concerto and-especially-his Clarinet Concerto, the surface of
his music became less off-putting, even
attractive. Some of the rock-solid structure became less evident (to me)
and I missed it.

Now, with these works, Lindberg has written some of the most interesting and
attractive music of his career, I feel. Al
largo (previously recorded on a Dacapo CD with the NY Philharmonic conducted
by Alan Gilbert) even slips in a quote from
Ravel's Mother Goose. The Second Cello Concerto is also much less
"confrontational" than the First, almost romantic in
spots; however someone forgot to tell the cellist, who will have none of it.
The most recent work, Era, is the best of all
of these three works for me. A theme from Strauss' Till is played with off
and on throughout the work. Best of all for me
is that I can now find again the structure I so admired behind all this much
more attractive music.

Ondine has outdone themselves with really fine SACD sound; the best I've
heard from them.

YMMV

Ed Presson