Andreas Skouras - Kalevi Aho: Piano Works (2016)

Kalevi Aho is a true giant amongst composers of our time, both in terms of craftsmanship and in his sonic and formal imagination. Although his works are not performed as much internationally as some of his colleagues, he is without doubt Finland’s most brilliant symphonic and operatic composer working today.

Aho was born in 1949 in Forsa, southern Finland and learnt the mandolin and violin at the age of nine, and also began composing at that age. During his youth he loved the great romantic symphonists, and during his school days he wrote several string quartets and sonatas for solo violin, as well as his first orchestral piece – all without any instruction, directly from what he imagined in his inner ear.

Complete mastery of technique, especially of the full orchestra, and free flight of the imagination are hallmarks of his oeuvre, revealed from piece to piece in extremely different facets. As of this writing, Aho has completed sixteen symphonies which can be regarded as the creative core of his oeuvre. He is no less significant as an operatic composer, but so far none of his operas has been released on CD.

The harpsichordist and pianist Andreas Skouras has now taken on the production of Kalevi Aho, presenting a brilliant first recording of this music for piano solo – as many-sided as it is unpredictable, crossing borders in pianism, realised in a sovereign manner in terms of content and form. Skouras has provided the following commentary on the individual compositions: “The piano works of Kalevi Aho are penetrated by his predominantly orchestral way of thinking. The polyrhythms, the juxtaposition of several layers containing different events and the resultant sonic image frequently correspond to that of a large orchestra.