Avanti Chamber Orchestra - Wennakoski: Culla D'Aria (2008)

In an article for the Finnish Music Information Center, Lotta Wennäkoski (born 1970) writes, "I've always been fascinated by the scarcely audible...so that in trying to establish a sound of my very own, I've had the feeling I'll find it on the borders of silence." The statement is apt; many of the chamber and vocal pieces represented here are characterized by exceptionally sparse textures and sounds that are barely audible. Culla d'aria (Cradle of Air), for string quartet, consists of wispy ethereal gestures, with silence given a key role. Sade avaa (Rain opens), for bass clarinet and chamber ensemble, achieves a similar effect, using extended instrumental techniques calculated to produce the most delicate sounds and textures. Nosztalgiaim, despite a title that implies a wistful sadness, is actually the most active work here. Using several Hungarian folk songs as its basis, it's playful and whimsical, but in a very quiet and dynamically subdued manner. Wennäkoski's song cycle, Naisen rakkautta ja elämää (Love and Life of a Woman), which references Schumann's Frauenliebe und -leben thematically but not musically, is a more dynamically robust work, due to the nature of bel canto singing, which calls attention to itself and is not noted for tiny, pointillist vocal production. The cycle, which uses three women's voices and chamber ensemble, is more conventionally in the tradition of contemporary atonal art song. Finnish ensemble Avanti! and various soloists negotiate Wennäkoski's demands with precision and careful attention to the atmospheric quality of her work. Alba's sound is present and clear so that the smallest details of orchestration are easily audible.