Laura Mikkola - Etudes Op 42 / Icons Op 6 / Preludes Op 7 - COMPACT DISCS [CD]

This Naxos disc presents Laura Mikkola's performances of the solo piano works of Einojuhani Rautavaara. While not a complete survey, it does cover Rautavaara's most substantial solo piano pieces. The InchIconsInch (1955) were inspired by Orthodox iconography. Though not of the faith himself, Rautavaara was exposed to the Finnish Orthodox Church in childhood and it's comparative exoticness seems to have left a deep mark on him. These six pieces in a neoclassical style represent particular scenes of Orthodox iconography InchThe Death of the Mother of GodInch, InchTwo Village SaintsInch, InchThe Black Madonna of BlakernayaInch, InchThe Baptism of ChristInch, InchThe Holy Women at the SepulchreInch and InchArchangel Michael Fighting the AntichristInch. There's a great diversity here, and it's not all solemn and meditative the second and fourth pieces are as jolly as the player piano in a western. The remaining works were written over a decade later, at a time when Rautavaara was interested in the Inchgrand styleInch of piano playing in the era of Liszt. The Piano Concerto No. 1 (hear Mikkola perform it on another Naxos disc) was marked by wide runs and palm clusters, and that same spirit is found in the Piano Etudes (1969) and Piano Sonata No. 1 (1969) and No. 2 (1970). The six Etudes follow the model of Debussy in focusing each on a different interval InchThirdsInch, InchSeventhsInch, InchTritonesInch, InchFourthsInch, InchSecondsInch and InchFifthsInch. The piano sonatas are both in two movements. The First is titled InchChristus und die FischerInch and employs a bare minimum of material. The Second, which bears the title InchThe Fire SermonInch, is it's polar opposite, with the first movement consisting of shifting clusters played very fast. Album Tracks 1. Etudes, Op.42 Thirds 2. Etudes, Op.42 Sevenths 3. Etudes, Op.42 Tritones 4. Etudes, Op.42 Four