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Written in fRoots issue 350/351, Aug/Sept 2012


PIIA KLEEMOLA & CO
Fiddle Feast
Siba Records SACD-1008 (2012)

Fiddle albums arrive on the review pile so often that it can be hard to say something new about the next one, even though they’re virtually invariably by good players with interesting stories to their tunes. But when I got to this CD, I found it’s not a string of dance tunes, and the unevocative title and cover don’t do it justice.
     As well as three splendidly developed extended arrangements of traditional tunes from Ostrobothnia, Karelia and Quebec (the last learnt from Chris Wood), there are two major compositions: Work by Timo Alakotila and Jumalantauti - a Finnish word for a disease with no cure - by Eero Grundström of Sväng, Spontaani Vire et al. Both these guys, well known as players, arrangers and tunesmiths, are substantial composers in any genre of music, and each of these three-part works is a very fine piece of music that can and should grace and energise the concert halls of the world.
     They’re played by the quartet of Piia Kleemola, Emilia Lajunen, Kukka Lehto and Suvi Oskala on four-string, five-string and octave violins, all of them again well known for playing folk music, who create a vivid palette, all the life and lift of traditional fiddling coupled with the tonal sophistication and spaciousness of classical violin.
     A very advanced piece of writing and playing, it’s emotional, melodic, subtle, rising to glorious. This is strong, rich, individual music that doesn’t hang on anyone else’s peg, but as an indication think of the melodiousness of Vaughan Williams, the angular and rhythmic thrill of Bartók, and in the Grundström piece inspiration from the passionate Balkan mode of the Romanian traditional Cintek De Instrainaire.
     Produced by Alakotila, Grundström and Kleemola, it’s in SACD surround-sound too, which in this case might be well worth experiencing.

     www.siba.fi/sibarecords


© 2012 Andrew Cronshaw
 

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