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Customer Reviews
Most Helpful Customer Reviews
15 of 15 people found the following review helpful
Format:Audio CD
Cantus Articus was the work that got me into Rautavaara's music - the second movement, Melankolia, is for me one of the most beautiful pieces of classical music produced in the past 50 years. In this unusual work, tape recordings of arctic bird song are superbly mixed in with orchestral playing. The effect can be simply magical and one can picture oneself by a lake in Northern Finland, watching the swans fly and the midges dance on an endless summer evening. This was the piece with which Rautavaara abandoned his adherence to the rigid forms of post-war atonalism and, to my mind at least, his masterpiece.
The Piano Concerto is a more angular, atonal, work with lots of clashing harmonies. However it also has a real energy and verve with some ravishing interplay between the strings and the piano, especially in the middle movement.
Finally there's the 3rd symphony, the first two movements of which are full of gorgeous broad chords on string and brass, very reminiscent of Sibelius. In the latter movements the pace picks up as the sympony heads towards a rousing finish.
The RNSO, who seem to be Naxos' specialist Rautavaara orchestra, give a good account of all of this. With this CD at such a low price there's no better introduction to this composer.
10 of 10 people found the following review helpful
Format:Audio CD
This is music that certainly conjures up the majestic and austere vistas of those Arctic landscapes. The bird recordings add to the ghostliness of the "Cantus", and the concerto displays its beauty on repeated listenings. Both orchestra and soloist perform superbly, and the recording is up to Naxos' usual high standard. Unfamiliar with Rautavaara's work, this CD was bought on a whim, and I was not disappointed. Highly recommended, especially at this price.
20 of 21 people found the following review helpful
Format:Audio CD
I only bought this CD out of curiosity. The title work, Cantus Arcticus, concerto for Birds and Orchestra, struck me as something of a joke. Upon reading the excellent sleeve notes my heart sank when I saw it was based around the whole tone scale. I expected to hear a work full of discordant harmonies and jarring rhythmns. What I actually got was pure beauty. This is a totally accessible Cd and one I have become quite addicted to.
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Most Recent Customer Reviews
Great Stuff
I came across this disc by accident having previously not heard much (if any) of Rautavaara's music, and am very impressed by it. Read more
Published 3 months ago by David Mac
Another realm in music.
I purchased this recording after hearing the Cantus Arcticus on radio; I was immediately captivated by it. Read more
Published 5 months ago by S. J. Mathews
Captivating Cantus Arcticus
Cantus Arcticus is beautiful, I can listen to it over and over again. Rautavaara has the magic touch here in that he blends the sounds of the bird song and orchestra so that they... Read more
Published 24 months ago by Joanna Fleming
Possibly the best place to start with Rautavarra
Not wishing to repeat anything from the superb initial review by Bob Zeidler I would simply add the following:
The music of the Cantus Arcticus is simpler in texture... Read more
The music of the Cantus Arcticus is simpler in texture... Read more
Published on 19 July 2009 by John Ferngrove
Atmospheric music
The sounds of the birds as a backdrop to the music is very evocative. But, I doubt whether this is great music.
Published on 22 Feb 2008 by Aquinas
Postmodernism for ornithologists everywhere!
I love this CD. I can't describe it in the 'correct' musical jargon, but I know how it makes me feel. Read more
Published on 5 Mar 2007 by John Williams
The most accessible postmodern music I’ve ever heard.
This album has been revelatory to me, and I came by its existence quite by accident. Had I relied on my “usual sources” — music critics and reviewers in the trade... Read more
Published on 21 Aug 2003 by Bob Zeidler
Something a bit different, and highly recommended
This is music that perfectly conjures up Arctic vistas, especially in the Cantus, with its ghostly bird recordings and wide orchestral spaces. Read more
Published on 10 Dec 1999
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