Sonja Fräki - Kalevi Aho - Works for Solo Piano (2014) CD-Rip

On the present disc, the Finnish pianist Sonja Fräki presents Kalevi Aho’s output for solo piano. The disc opens with Aho’s earliest published work, the Nineteen Preludes from 1965-68, including a first version of Prelude No. 8 from 1963. These works display a characteristic fascination with the virtuosic and technically brilliant side of music-making; this quality comes to the fore in the Sonata, with its 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. Commissioned as a set piece for a piano competition, Solo II is likewise a challenge for any pianist, and forms part of a series of big (roughly ten-minute) solo works for various instruments, of which several have been recorded by BIS.