Frankfurt Radio Symphony Orchestra, Laura Mikkola & Paavo Järvi - Erkki-Sven Tüür: Seventh Symphony - Piano Concerto (2014) [Hi-Res]

Estonian composer Erkki-Sven Tüür’s Seventh Symphony (2009), dedicated to the Dalai Lama, is a choral symphony like no other. It is a powerful vector-based work in Tüür’s new compositional mode, in which the orchestra only intermittently frames and supports the voices. The texts that the NDR Choir sings include words of the Buddha from the Dhammapada but also utterances of more contemporary visionaries, from Gandhi to Mother Theresa. The Piano Concerto, like the symphony, was composed for the Hessischer Rundfunk and given its premiere at the Alte Oper in Frankfurt, one of this album’s recording locations. As Paul Griffiths notes, “The concerto is also music on two planes, now orchestra and piano, though this time both are continuous and continually in the process of meeting.” Finnish pianist Laura Mikkola gives an exceptional performance, responding to the surging waves of the orchestra and the inspired direction of Paavo Järvi.

„For me, composing is like making the design of a building, a cathedral or a theatre. And then I create a drama inside the space, with different characters and many forces. A lot of different actions. It’s about creating a certain form of living energy.” (Erkki-Sven Tüür)

Frankfurt Radio Symphony Orchestra
NDR Choir
Laura Mikkola, piano
Paavo Järvi, conductor

Recorded June 2009 at Alte Oper, Frankfurt and June 2010 at hr_Sendesaal, Frankfurt
Recording producers: Eckhard Glauche (Piano Concerto), Hans Bernhard Bätzing (Symphony No. 7)
Recording engineer: Thomas Eschler
Executive producer (hr): Andrea Zietzschmann