KALEVI AHO (b.1949): Clarinet Concerto, CARL NIELSEN (1865-1931): Clarinet Concerto.

Description: Commissioned by Fröst, this concerto joins Aho's ongoing canon of symphonic works with virtuoso soloist; a five-movement, half-hour tour de force of granitic strength and natural grandeur and human-scaled subjectivity and eloquence. It probably goes without saying that the solo part is as dazzling as one could wish, when called upon to be; the composer seems to have made a practice of assimilating completely the technical capabilities of the solo instruments he writes for in order to extend their capabilities (see also under 'contrabassoon' below). But it is in the vast echoing landscapes of the work's slow movements that the stature of the music really emerges; these two final sections have a sense of mysterious, culminative power and ultimately, enigmatic resolution (one is irresistibly reminded of late Busoni here), which is really quite overwhelming. Martin Fröst (clarinet), Lahti Symphony Orchestra; Osmo Vänskä.