Heavenly lights (cd)

Nicolas Altstaedt (cello), Ian Bostridge (tenor), Olli Mustonen (piano)

Mustonen: Taivaanvalot (Heavenly Lights)
Mustonen: Cello Sonata
Kodály: Sonatina for Cello and Piano
Kodály: Sonata for Cello and Piano, Op. 4

For this fifth volume in the acclaimed Lockenhaus Festival series, artistic director and cellist Nicolas Altstaedt presents an exhilarating, folklore-steeped program centering around the mystical sound worlds of Finnish composer Olli Mustonen and Hungarian master Zoltán Kodály.

The highlight of the album is the world-premiere recording of Mustonen’s Taivaanvalot (Heavenly Lights) in its original 2016 chamber setting. Performed by the star-studded trio of tenor Ian Bostridge, Altstaedt, and the composer himself at the piano, this deeply spiritual chamber symphony draws its inspiration from the ancient bardic poems of the Kalevala. Altstaedt describes the piece as a breathtaking revelation that plunges listeners into a legendary, timeless mythology.

Complementing this premiere are three muscular, dance-inflected works for cello and piano: Mustonen’s own rhythmic 2006 Cello Sonata, alongside Kodály's Sonatina (1920) and his early Sonata, Op. 4 (1909–1910). Together, these pieces share a profound kinship with authentic folk art, balancing brooding rhapsodic expression with spellbinding instrumental virtuosity.