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Olli Mustonen's recording of the two 3rd piano concertos by Rautavaara and Martinů with the Lahti Symphony Orchestra under Dalia Stasevska was honoured with the German Record Critics' Award.
Olli Mustonen talks about an early musical key experience, two new compositions and the special meaning that the Paul Hindemith Award bears for him.
Artistic Director and Principal Conductor of the Turku Philharmonic Orchestra, Olli Mustonen has a unique place on today’s music scene. Following the tradition of great masters such as Rachmaninov, Busoni and Enescu, Mustonen combines the roles of his musicianship as composer, pianist and conductor in an equal balance that is quite exceptional, often bringing them together in one fascinating triple role performance. This season, he continues his position of Principal Guest Conductor of the Lapland Chamber Orchestra where he combines orchestral concerts with chamber music and recitals.
During an illustrious career, Olli Mustonen has brought his extraordinary musical insight to many of world’s most significant orchestras, including the Berliner Philharmoniker, New York and Los Angeles Philharmonic, Chicago Symphony, Cleveland Orchestra, Royal Concertgebouw Orkest, Mariinsky Theatre Orchestra, Orchestre de Paris, Tonhalle Orchester Zürich, and all the London orchestras.
Opening this season in Turku, he was joined by friend and long-term collaborator Steven Isserlis for performances of Britten’s Symphony for Cello and Orchestra, as well as Shostakovich’s less frequently performed Symphony No. 15. He performs with the Tonhalle Zurich under Paavo Järvi, Deutsche Radio Philharmonie Saarbrucken for Bartok’s second Piano Concerto and Respighi’s Concerto in modo misolidio with Solistes Européens in Luxembourg. A regular visitor to festivals across Europe, he appears at Klassiske Dage Holstebro where he is also composer in residence, returns to South America to open the Cartagena Music Festival with Grieg’s Piano Concerto as well as give recitals. Other festivals include Concentus Moraviae, Stavanger Piano Festival and Tampere Chamber Music Festival, and he gives recitals across Austria and Germany.
Last season, he returned to Camerata Zürich for the second consecutive season as Artist in Residence and went on a fifteen-concert tour in Australia with the Australian Chamber Orchestra. Following that, he returned to Japan to perform with Herbert Blomstedt and the NHK Symphony Orchestra as well as a series of recitals in Tokyo and a return to London’s Wigmore Hall for a full cycle of Prokofiev sonatas. Other recent highlights have included the Prague Philharmonia and RSO Wien for Martinu’s Piano Concerto No. 3. Further afield, he returned to Brazil for his triple role, conducting the Orquesta Filarmonica de Minas Gerais, performing Mozart’s Piano Concerto No. 25, and opened the programme with one of his own compositions – The Old Church at Petäjävesi. He has strong relationships with orchestras across Finland including the Finnish Radio Symphony Orchestra, Helsinki Philharmonic and Jyväskylä Sinfonia as well as the Sinfonia Lahti with whom he has recently released an album of Rautavaara and Martinu’s third piano concertos under the baton of Dalia Stasevska.
Recipient of the 2019 Hindemith Prize of the City of Hanau, Olli Mustonen’s life as a composer is at the heart of his piano playing and conducting. Frequently bringing his own works to the chamber music stage, the world premiere of his work Taivaanvalot (Heavenly Lights) for Tenor, Cello and Piano was performed at Het Muziekgebouw, Amsterdam by Olli Mustonen himself, alongside Ian Bostridge and Steven Isserlis. Additional performances took place at London’s Wigmore Hall and in Hong Kong. His string sextet, was commissioned by the Beethoven Festival Bonn and first performed there in February 2020. Last season saw the premiere of two of his new works: Apotheosis, in memoriam Pablo Casals commissioned by the Kronberg Academy, at the opening gala of the Casals Forum in Kronberg, Germany, and his Sinfonia No. 3 Taivaanvalot with the Turku Philharmonic and Tenor soloist Ian Bostridge.
As a recitalist, Olli Mustonen has appeared at Carnegie Hall, Symphony Center Chicago, Diaghilev Festival Perm, Dresden Festival, Lockenhaus Festival, New York Zankel Hall and Sydney Opera House. With Steven Isserlis, he has performed as a duo for more than thirty years. 2019 saw the release of their disc of Russian works for cello and piano on the Hyperion label.
Born in Helsinki, Olli Mustonen began his studies in piano, harpsichord, and composition at the age of five. Initially learning with Ralf Gothoni, he subsequently studied piano with Eero Heinonen and composition with Einojuhani Rautavaara
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Triple
Exemplary Programmes with Olli Mustonen as a soloist, conductor and composerJ. S. Bach: Concerto for Keyboard in D major BWV1054P. Hindemith: The Four Temperaments for piano and stringsO. Mustonen: Sonata for Cello and OrchestraD. Shostakovich: String Quartet No. 9 (arr. string orchestra)B. Smetana: The Bartered Bride OvertureA. Dvořák: Cello ConcertoO. Mustonen: Symphony No. 2 Johannes AngelosO. Mustonen: The Old Church at PetäjävesiW. A. Mozart: Piano Concerto No. 26S. Prokofjev: Symphony No. 6
Recitals
SoloP. Tchaikovsky: Album for the Youth, Op. 39D. Shostakovitch: Sonata No. 2, Op. 61R. Shchedrin: Notebook for Young PeopleO. Mustonen: Sonata Jehkin IivanaS. Prokofjev: Sonate No. 7
All ProkofjevAll piano sonatas in two recitals in a row
Duo with Steven IsserlisD. Shostakovich: Sonata for Cello and Piano in D minor, Op. 40O. Mustonen: Cello SonataS. Prokofiev: Ballade in C minor for cello and piano, Op. 15 OR Sibelius, Jean: MalincoliaD. Kabalevsky: Cello Sonata, Op. 71
“Furious crossrhythms and accented repeated notes relent to hymnal lyricism in Olli Mustonen’s First String Quartet...Mustonen is the composer-pianist in the 2014 Piano Quintet, which opens with a Rite of Spring-ish Drammatico e passionato movement...Sensitive interplay between piano and strings lifts the quieter moments, which are well balanced in this recording."
BBC Music Magazine, January 2023
“Mustonen’s individuality and intellectual enquiry were immediately apparent… His was a performance which ranks amongst the finest for the instrument that I have experienced in some time. There was a sense of eavesdropping on a master pianist playing for his own pleasure…”
Limelight, Brett Allen-Bayes, 04/10/2022
“[Mustonen’s quintet], in a concert filled with musical gems, [was] the crowning glory.(…) Mustonen and the Australian Chamber Orchestra have succeeded in combining unparalleled virtuosity with unashamed entertainment value.”
Limelight, Jansson J. Antmann, 23/09/2022
“The Finnish pianist, conductor, and composer Olli Mustonen shows enormous courage in presenting the first part of his programme at the Ruhr Piano Festival in the Stadthalle Mülheim on Saturday evening with varied and contrasting piano gems by Sibelius, Mustonen, and Scriabin. The result is simply magnificent and is heard all too rarely heard on stage.”
MAZ Mülheim, July 2022
“Isserlis and Mustonen make a strong case for [the Kabalevsky Sonata] in a performance of grand gestures that proves a real roller coaster ride. Isserlis’s intensity and Mustonen’s pianistic weight suit the piece wonderfully well, and the tolling opening chords sound at once solemn and threatening [...]. Isserlis and Mustonen play [the Rondo in memory of Prokofiev] with the combination of lyricism and drama that characterises the rest of the disc. Very fine.”
Gramophone, February 2019
“Mustonen provides the turbulent counterpoint [...] playing with great gentleness and delicacy one moment, before an eruption of glittering notes propelled with a febrile intensity that reminds me of Shostakovich himself at the piano. It’s a fascinating partnership and, I think, a hugely rewarding performance [...] such a tremendous account [...] an intimately truthful recording as well [...] it’s my Recording of the Week.”
BBC Record Review, February 2019
“Olli Mustonen plays with bags of energy and vigour, match by the Orchestra and Conductor.”
BBC Music Magazine, Nov '16 – on the Prokofiev CD
“In Mustonen’s reading there is a real sense of journey as he traverses the 25 studies and there is greater tonal variation, expressive range and playfulness in his playing, which I find helps the listener to feel more involved in this music. [...] Mustonen is extremely persuasive in the way he sheds new light on this music, making it more accessible – ideal, I would say, for winning new admirers to the work.”
GRAMOPHONE, on Prokofjew’s Vision fugitives, CD recording Decca 444803
Olli Mustonen plays Hindemiths Vier Temperamente with Finnish Radio under Hannu Lintu
Olli Mustonen plays Hindemiths Vier Temperamente
Finnish Radio Symphony OrchestraHannu Lintu, Dirigent
In Focus: Olli Mustonen
Live in the Studio: Olli Mustonen
Olli Mustonen speaks about Jehkin Iivana
Olli Mustonen at SWR 2 Porträt "Zur Person"
Olli Mustonen, Engegård Quartet
Lawo Classics, 2022, LWC 1243
Olli Mustonen (piano), Steven Isserlis (cello)
Hyperion, 2019, CDA68239
Olli Mustonen (piano), Finnish Radio Symphony Orchestra, Hannu Lintu (conductor)
ONDINE, 2017, ODE 1288-2
ONDINE, 2016, ODE 1244-2
Olli Mustonen (piano) und Steven Isserlis (cello)
BIS, 2014, BIS - 2042
Olli Mustonen (piano)
ONDINE, 2012, ODE 1184-2
Olli Mustonen (conductor), Helsinki Festival Orchestra
ONDINE, 2012, FUGA9335
Olli Mustonen (piano), Finnish Radio Symphony Orchestra, Sakari Oramo (conductor)
ONDINE, 2010, ODE 1165-2