The River
Sheet Music

SKU: NX.ABCD385

By Henri Sigfridsson, Jan Soderblom, and Pori Sinfonietta. By Selim Palmgren. Classical. Hybrid SACD. Alba Records #ABCD385. Published by Alba Records (NX.ABCD385).

When, as a budding musician of 17, Selim Palmgren (1878-1951) went to enroll as a student at the Helsinki Music Institute in May 1895, the Institute's director, Martin Wegelius, invited him to a concert to be held that same evening. It was given by Ferruccio Busoni, a great pianist in his day and a notable composer, and it made a profound impression on the young Palmgren. "The only thing that I, just a greenhorn beginner, grasped was that supreme, phenomenal piano playing such as that was something I would never even come close to achieving," he recalled. "Yet that evening was to be decisive to my development into a musician. I decided to become a pianist and- possibly- a composer, too." Palmgren's pianist and composer careers were closely interwoven. It was music for the piano that would become his forte, and not just its performance; it was also the genre in which he composed his most original works. This new release features Palmgren's three Piano Concertos, as well as his Pieces for violin and piano. Pianist Henri Sigfridsson is one of the major Finnish musical talents of his generation. He has performed at major concert venues and European music festivals, and has also given chamber music performances with artists such as Leonidas Kavakos, Ivry Gitlis, and Mischa Maisky.