Aulis Sallinen:01. Sunrise Serenade, op.63 [7'44]
02. Symphony No.2, op.29 'Symphonic Dialogue for Solo Percussion'* [15'35]
03. - 06. Symphony No.6, op.65 'From a New Zealand Diary' [42'47]
Gert Mortensen- percussion*; Malmo Symphony Orchestra conducted by Okko Kamu
BIS CD511 (recorded November 1990; CD issued 1992)
04. Shadows. Prelude for orchestra, op.52 [9'48]
05. - 09. Symphony No.5, op.57 'Washington Mosaics' [39'31]
Malmo Symphony Orchestra conducted by James DePreist
BIS CD607^ (recorded March 1993; CD issued 1994)
(digital downloads; flacs, booklet, cover and inlay scans)
Recording venue: Malmo Concert Hall, Sweden
Recording engineer & Producer: Robert von Bahr & Ingo Petry^
Here are two early BIS digital recordings of the contemporary Finnish composer Aulis Sallinen's symphonies in digital downloads kindly provided by MIMIC friend Howard. The recording of the second and sixth symphonies was one of the last actually made by BIS owner Robert von Bahr before he handed over to independent recording teams.
Until CPO's series of the complete symphonies with Ari Rasilainen was issued in the early to mid noughties, this BIS series of recordings only had two competitors - with Okko Kamu recording the fourth and fifth symphonies for the Finlandia label before it was subsumed into Warner Music.
In general I prefer all of the BIS and Finlandia issues of Sallinen's often bleak but always dramatic music to those on CPO - mainly due to superior orchestral playing and recorded sound. In the case of Washington Mosaics, written for Mstislav Rostropovich and the National Symphony, this rather diffuse and, dare I say it, overlong work is much better held together by James DePreist.
The same accusation of prolixity may also be levelled against the sixth symphony, written for the New Zealand Symphony, but of course I have a personal interest and very much enjoy this performance under Okko Kamu. The third movement, depicting an abandoned gold mining district, is particularly evocative.
In the case of possibly Sallinen's finest symphony, the fourth, honours are just about equal between DePreist and Kamu's Finlandia recording (also available here on MIMIC along with Kamu's recordings of the first and third symphonies for BIS). Kamu is superior at the beginning of the first movement but DePreist soon catches up.
Download Symphonies No.2 & No.6 from MEGA.
Download Symphonies No.4 & No.5 from MEGA.