Matti Raekallio - Merikanto: Piano Concertos Nos. 2 & 3 (1998)

Aaare Merikanto was the son of Oskar Merikanto, a Finnish organist. His talent was precocious, but political events of the 1920s and 30s caused a blacklisting of much of his music. This sad state of affairs is much rectified by these first-class recordings (world premiere, I assume because all but the 2nd Concerto is in manuscript). Raekaello plays superbly and is admirably backed by the Tampere Philharmonic Orchestra. The music has resonances of Prokofiev, Bartok, Shostakovich and even Rachmaninov (Merikanto once studied with Reger). The 2nd has more dissonance and is more like other 20th century concertos but the other works have more of a romantic feel about them. These smaller works have much melodic interest, as these seem to be works intended to be in a more popular style. Kudos to Ondine for releasing this CD!