John Storgårds

"Take note not just of the eloquence of the cello lines but also of the transparency, the delicacy, the weightless loveliness of so much of the orchestral writing."

"The Earth, Spring’s Daughter is dramatic and gorgeously sounding. [-] Saivo elegantly combines contemporary aesthetics, associations to nature, and a mythological dimension."

For all the passion at the climax of the Balada and the lusty drama of the last of the Four Songs, the music here sings Rautavaara to rest in the rich autumnal tones that are unmistakably his.

Growing up in roughly beautiful Lapland has affected Outi Tarkiainen’s personality and her voice as a composer. For her, music is almost like a force of nature, which can change people and their destinies. Andrew Mellor met Tarkiainen in Rovaniemi, just as she had finished her song-cycle The Earth, Spring’s Daughter.

Internationally and domestically active conductor, John Storgårds prefers to conduct music composed with both hearts and brains – and does it with exceptional emotion and sincerity.

"If you are sympathetic to large-scale Shostakovich (in works like the Eighth and Eleventh Symphonies), you will probably enjoy this CD as much as I did, although in the Third Symphony, as in the Second, I wonder whether he doesn't overwork his material just that bit too much."