KIMMO HAKOLA (b.1958): Guitar Concerto, TOSHIO HOSOKAWA (b.1955): Voyage IX Awakening, Blossoming II.

Description: Hakola's concerto is above all an immensely appealing work, very tonal, with the composer's trademark cosmopolitan blending of styles. Fast music is often vigorously, propulsively ostinato-driven, in full orchestral textures that challenge conventions of tip-toeing around the solo guitar with a delicate self-effacing accompaniment (the boisterous first movement gets around this by largely alternating their contributions to the dialogue). Hakola draws on the traditions of Jewish Andalusia to provide the work's strong Spanish flavor, tinged with inflections of the Middle East. This is especially evident in the lovely, mournfully melodic second movement, which incorporates a Sephardic song melody; here the soloist holds center stage, surrounded by an atmospheric haze of subtle orchestral color. The finale conjures a scene of cinematic vividness, replete with the voices of a crowd of onlookers, handclaps, castanets and a succession of lively flamenco dances. Hosokawa's pieces are both concerned with lotus lowers, symbolizing the individual; Voyage IX assigns his role to the solo guitar, with the orchestra as the surrounding world, the water on which it floats. The music is ethereal and drawn in delicate brush-strokes, combining a sonorous modern take on impressionistic atmosphere with the modal inflections of traditional Japanese music. Timo Korhonen (guitar), Oulu Symphony Orchestra; Santtu-Matias Rouvali.