Hundsnes: Clavinatas Nos. 1-7, Piano Sonata No. 1 & Downtoned Beats Laura Mikkola

• Svein Hundsnes (b. 1951):
• 1 Clavinata No. 1 04:08
• 2 Clavinata No. 2 03:20
• Piano Sonata No. 1:
• 3 Piano Sonata No. 1: I. — 05:40
• 4 Piano Sonata No. 1: II. — 07:04
• 5 Piano Sonata No. 1: III. — 04:46
• Svein Hundsnes:
• 6 Clavinata No. 5 03:59
• 7 Clavinata No. 4 04:53
• 8 Clavinata No. 3 03:10
• Downtoned Beats:
• 9 Downtoned Beats: I. Cymbal Prelude and Distant Groove 05:18
• 10 Downtoned Beats: II. Dark Bourrée and Intermezzo 03:55
• 11 Downtoned Beats: III. Scherzo 03:25
• 12 Downtoned Beats: IV. Danse Noire 04:22
• Svein Hundsnes:
• 13 Clavinata No. 7 05:00
• 14 Clavinata No. 6 05:04
• Total Runtime 01:04:04

Info for Hundsnes: Clavinatas Nos. 1-7, Piano Sonata No. 1 & Downtoned Beats

Svein Hundsnes is one of Norway’s most important living composers. He has written a wide-ranging body of music encompassing several vivid styles, moving seamlessly from tonal and non-tonal music to include jazz, rock and even funk. Hundsnes’ sequence of Clavinatas – one-movement free-standing pieces with a symmetrical form that often include toccata-like vitality – embody qualities that make his music so distinctive. Often syncopated, they possess short motifs, intensity and emotional ambiguity. Piano Sonata No. 1 and Downtoned Beats reflect his delight in drama and dance grooves. Finnish pianist Laura Mikkola has studied at the Sibelius Academy in Helsinki, the Curtis Institute in Philadelphia and the University School of Music in Bloomington, Indiana. She studied with Murray Perahia, Menahem Pressler, Gary Graffman, Dmitri Baskirov, Tapani Valsta and attended masterclasses of Ferenc Rados. Ms. Mikkola has been the recipient of many awards, among them the second prize in the prestigious Queen Elisabeth International Piano Competition of Brussels (1995), the first prize in the International Unisa Transnet Piano Competition in Pretoria, Republic of South Africa, the first prize in the Maj Lind Competition in Helsinki (1992), and the first prize in the International M. Ravel Piano Competition in France (1988).

Laura Mikkola, piano

Laura Mikkola
has been a soloist with Helsinki Philharmonic, Radio Symphony Orchestra of Helsinki, Los Angeles Philharmonic, Mariinsky Theater Orchestra of St. Petersbourg, The Residentie Orkest, Stuttgart Staatsoper Orchestra, St John’s Smith Square Orchestra, London, Royal Philharmonic of Flanders, L’orchestre Philharmonique de Liège, Orchestre National de Belgique, Prague Chamber Orchestra, Virtuosi di Kuhmo, Essen Philharmonic Orchestra, Czech Philharmonic, etc. She has had recitals all over Europe, Japan, United States, in China and in South America, in Columbia and Chile. She has also performed in the Festival International de Colmar, France; 14th Festival de Música de Canarias, Spain; the Helsinki Festival, Kuhmo Chamber Music Festival, Savonlinna Opera Festival, Finland; Festival Glories of the Keyboards in Manchester, Great Britain; Yokohama International Piano Concert Festival, Japan; Sommerliche Musiktage Hitzacker, Germany; Lutoslawski Festival, Warsaw, Poland; Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, United States; Tonhalle, Zürich, Switzerland; Château de Bourlingster, Luxembourg, Châtelet Paris, France, Rudolfinum Prague, Czech Republic, Zipper Hall, Los Angeles, Filharmonia Narodowa, Warsaw, Poland and many others. Laura Mikkola has been chosen to perform with conductors: Jukka-Pekka Saraste, Leif Segerstam, Sergiu Comissiona, Osmo Vänskä, Valery Gergijev, Jean-Jacques Kantorow, Pierre Bartholomée, Aleksandr Lazarev, Mikko Franck, Okko Kamu, Peter Csaba, Eri Klas, Vladimir Ashkenazy and others worldwide.

Her Suntory Hall debut, Tokyo, was in 1995, Carnegie Hall debut (Weill Recital Hall, New York) was in 1996, her Hollywood Bowl debut with Maestro Esa-Pekka Salonen and the Los Angeles Philharmonic in 1997, Kennedy Center debut with the Washington National Symphony Orchestra in 2002 (Washington D.C) and her debut with Radio Sinfonie Orchester Franfurt in 2005. Since 2003 she has been the artistic director of Iitti Music Festival (Finland).

She has 46 concertos in her repertoire including: Bartok No. 2, Prokofjev No. 2, von Sauer No. 2, Lindberg piano concerto, Rachmaninov Nos 2 & 3, Beethoven: Triple Concerto. She also plays chamber music with: cellist Martti Rousi, clarinetist Kari Kriikku, violonist Jan Söderblom, Maestro Philippe Entremont, etc. She performs regularly in China and Japan.

Booklet for Hundsnes: Clavinatas Nos. 1-7, Piano Sonata No. 1 & Downtoned Beats