• Known for his orchestral output - 16 symphonies and 21
concertos to date! - Finnish composer Kalevi Aho was
recently described in Gramophone as having 'a strong claim
to the title of greatest living symphonist'.
• But 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 Fraki presents
Aho's output for solo piano, comfortably fitting on one disc,
but nevertheless spanning some 30 years of a long career.
• The disc opens with his earliest published work, the
Nineteen Preludes from 1965-68, written before the
composer had begun any formal studies of either
composition or the piano.
• As in much of his other music, the works for piano display
his characteristic fascination with the virtuosic and
technically brilliant side of music-making.
• On the present disc, this quality comes to the fore in the
Sonata, with it's 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.
• Solo II is likewise a challenge for any pianist, forming part
of a series of big (roughly ten-minute) solo works for various
instruments, several of which have been recorded by BIS.