Osmo Tapio Räihälä: Zensolence
Uusinta Ensemble and Maria Puusaari are part of composer Osmo Tapio Räihälä (Visit an external site. The link opens in a new tab.)‘s new album Zensolence.
The album diving into synesthesia consists of vocal and chamber music works as well as live electronics. It contains Räihälä’s compositions from more than ten years.
The album also features soprano Olga Heikkilä, kantele artist Eija Kankaanranta and Kamus Quartet. It was published by Austrian KAIROS. The album is available for purchase as a physical copy and has also been released on streaming services such as Spotify (Visit an external site. The link opens in a new tab.).
Beat Furrer: Duos for violin/viola & piano
Ernst von Siemens Music Prize 2018 laureate Beat Furrer (Visit an external site. The link opens in a new tab.) is one of the most influential composers of our time. He turns 70 this year. On April 26, 2024, Uusinta Publishing Ltd. (Visit an external site. The link opens in a new tab.) released Uusinta Ensemble’s new two-track EP featuring Beat Furrer’s duets for violin/viola and piano, for streaming services only.
The meditative ‘Lied’ for violin and piano (1993) is performed by Uusinta Ensemble’s violinist Maria Puusaari and pianist Emil Holmström. The second track, a virtuoso piece ‘a due’ for viola and piano (1998) gets its first official recording with this album, performed by Max Savikangas, viola, and Emil Holmström, piano.
The album was recorded at the Sello Hall, Espoo, Finland by Markku Veijonsuo (Visit an external site. The link opens in a new tab.), who also produced and edited the recording.
The album is available on Spotify (Visit an external site. The link opens in a new tab.) – enjoyable listening!