New Zealand So:Inkinen - Rautawaara: Manhattan Trilogy / Isle of Bliss / Symphony No. 8

During the last decade Einojuhani Rautavaara has become one of the internationally most popular and frequently performed Finnish composers. 'The Eighth Symphony', Rautavaara's most recent, includes a second movement Scherzo which is among the most propulsive and concentrated pieces of his later output. 'Manhattan Trilogy' (2003-2005) was described by The New York Times, following its world premi?�re at Carnegie Hall, as \a reminiscence of the hopes and anxieties of his student years... The outer movements, 'Daydreams' and 'Dawn', are cast in consonant but freely modulating chord progressions, with achingly beautiful solo lines darting through the thick textures. Even the central 'Nightmares' movement, though darker and more freely dissonant, often has a lush quality. Rautavaara's two previous symphonic CDs on Naxos have been highly praised; Classics Today described Symphony No. 3 as a masterpiece that blows away the oft-expressed contention that there's no great music in traditional forms being written today.