Wednesday, October 17, 2012

Awards 2007: Concerto

Aho, Nielsen: Clarinet concertos
Martin Fröst (clarinet); Lahti Symphony Orchestra/Osmo Vänskä
BIS

Martin Fröst "seems to have Nielsen's irascible masterpiece in his bloodstream, as surely as he has its technical contortions under his fingers", according to David Fanning in Gramophone. "Few would now question the status of the Nielsen as the finest clarinet concerto of the 20th century. Time will tell with Kalevi Aho's concerto in the 21st. In the short term it will probably daunt as many prospective soloists and orchestras as Nielsen's work did in its time. But there can have been few equally impressive head-on engagements with the concerto medium in recent years". Göran Forsling on MusicWeb has no doubts: "A clear winner on all accounts and Aho’s concerto is pre-destined to be a standard work".

Runners-up:
Tchaikovsky: Violin concerto, etc. Julia Fischer; Russian National Orchestra/Yakov Kreizberg [Pentatone]
Honegger: Cello concerto, etc. Christian Poltéra; Malmö Symphony Orchestra/Tuomas Ollila-Hannikainen [BIS]
Szymanowski: Violin concertos nos.1 & 2. Ilya Kaler; Warsaw Philharmonic Orchestra/Antoni Wit [Naxos]
Sibelius, M Lindberg: Violin concertos. Lisa Batiashvili; Finnish Radio Symphony Orchestra/Sakari Oramo [Sony] 

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