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On the occasion of her 60th anniversary in 2012, this 4-CD collectors box contains recordings of fourteen orchestral works by Grammy-awarded Kaija Saariaho, many of them featuring vocal or instrumental soloists.
 The pieces are arranged in chronological order, and Ondine's assigned a theme to each disc, which helps the listener make sense of Saariaho's development. Saariaho's earliest orchestral works show her slowly breaking away from the rigidity of atonal composition and into a more emotional world of sound clouds and atmospheric orchestration. Some composers treat the human voice as something unique -- others as just another instrument. Saariaho seems to use it as a way to more fully articulate the emotional content of her music. The expressiveness of the vocal lines leave no doubt as to the emotions driving the music. The latest works in the set, all written after 2001, show a composer in full command of her talent. These compositions have more of tonal feel to them, but only up to a point. Saariaho is still primarily concerned with communicating emotion, and if the most effective way to do it is with a more traditional sound (at least temporarily), then so be it.
These recordings feature such acclaimed soprano soloists as Pia Freund, Anu Komsi and Karita Mattila, as well conductors Christoph Eschenbach with the Orchestre de Paris, Hannu Lintu with the Avanti! Chamber Orchestra, Esa-Pekka Salonen with the L.A. Philharmonic, and Jukka-Pekka Saraste with the Finnish Radio Symphony Orchestra.

www.amazon.co.uk/Saariaho-Works-Orchestra-Ondine-1113-2Q