Magnus Lindberg - GRAFFITI, Seht die Sonne (2010)

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Magnus Lindberg - GRAFFITI, Seht die Sonne (2010)

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Magnus Lindberg - GRAFFITI, Seht die Sonne (2010)

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Finnish composer Magnus Lindberg (b. 1958) writes in large, monolithic blocks of sound, with dense harmonies and melodies that often move in short, crabbed steps. That hasn't changed, but the two recent pieces included on this disc suggest a new concern with humanizing values and communicative clarity. "Seht die Sonne," which the San Francisco Symphony co-commissioned and gave its North American premiere in 2008, is as massive and solidly built as anything else in Lindberg's catalog. What's different is the melodic grace of the writing and the gleaming transparency of the orchestral textures, beautifully rendered by the Finnish Radio Symphony Orchestra under conductor Sakari Oramo. The companion piece, "Graffiti," is a choral setting of various Latin scribbles - commercial, philosophical, obscene or inscrutable - left behind along the streets and alleyways of Pompeii. The use of Lindberg's trademark sonorities to conjure up ancient walls is a little obvious, and there's more than a whiff of sword-and-sandal cliches here; but the cumulative effect of the piece is powerful in spite of it all.

Graffiti is as intelligent as it is beautiful, appealing, and exciting (...). Seht die Sonne (...) is an absolutely bewitching piece of orchestral writing. (...) The performances are vivid, even thrilling, the engineering outstandingly lifelike and (...) well-balanced. Hot stuff!

This Ondine release features superb performances of two major works by Magnus Lindberg, one of the most prominent Finnish composers to emerge in the late 20th century. The half-hour Graffiti has a title with contemporary, colloquial associations, but the graffiti that the composer takes for his texts comes from the walls of public places in Pompeii, written soon before the city was destroyed in A.D. 79 by the eruption of Mount Vesuvius. While some of the writings are specific to the time and place, such as advertisements for gladiatorial combats, a surprising number of the cranky political diatribes, silly aphorisms, and sexual encounters either documented or solicited, could, with the Roman names changed, be found in modern restrooms.