Ismo invited to Berlin Philharmonie 13.2.2007
Ismo will play chamber music with the musicians from Moritzburg-festival. The program will include at least the Fandango-quintet by Boccherini.
Recital in London 16.2.2007
Ismo has been invited to give a recital in Purcell Room, Royal festival hall. The program will include British premieres of Rautavaara's Variétude and Mustonen's Sonata "Jehkin Iivana". Also Bach's Chaconne and Ponce's La Folia-variations with the Prelude from the original version will be heard.
A great succes at the Moritzburg-festival!
All the concerts that Ismo performed at Moritzburg-Festival in Germany 8-16.8. were soldout, three of them also being broadcasted by german radiostations in Germany and Europe. In his recital Ismo played a german premiere of Guitar Sonata dedicated to Ismo by Olli Mustonen alongside with his own arrangement of Bach's Chaconne. As a chamber musician Ismo had wonderfull co-operation with the violinist Baiba Skride performing Paganini's Sonata Concertata and piece by Esa-Pekka Salonen with Mira Wang. Also Boccherini was heard with string quartet and the percussionist Colin Currie.
Press release 24.3.2006
Ismo Eskelinen premieres Rautavaara and releases new CD including music by Pärt and Vasks
Ismo Eskelinen will play a premier of Einojuhani Rautavaara’s Variétude originally composed for solo violin and arranged for guitar by Eskelinen and the composer. The premier will take place at Sonkajärvi Soi Festival in Finland where Eskelinen also serves as an artistic director. At the same festival Eskelinen will also play a guitar sonata named “Jehkin Iivana” according to the legendary Finnish runo singer composed and dedicated to Eskelinen by the famous pianist/composer Olli Mustonen. This will be a part of the concert in which the focus is in Olli Mustonen as a composer, and where the composer Olli Mustonen also performs his own piano music. In the festival Eskelinen also plays as a soloist with the Virtuosi di Kuhmo chamber orchestra.
Eskelinen’s new CD “The Seventh Sense” released by Alba includes works by Arvo Pärt, Peteris Vasks, Luca Francesconi, Minoru Miki, Toru Takemitsu and Leo Brouwer. In a new version of Pärt’s Fratres for guitar, strings and percussion Eskelinen joins the Ostrobothnian chamber orchestra conducted by Juha Kangas. The CD was already praised in many reviews including the biggest newspaper in Finland, Helsingin Sanomat with a headline “Perfect mastery of the guitar”.
Eskelinen’s preceding CD, Works by Manuel Ponce (including Concierto del Sur) has been a great success, hailed for example as a “…the finest recording of these particular works…” by The Classical guitar, “Best compliment for the classic Segovia recording” by American Record Guide and “Record of the Year” by Helsingin Sanomat.
In the near future, Eskelinen will be busy performing recitals and chamber music, and as a soloist with orchestras. His engagements will include the prestigious Moritzburg Festival in Germany, where he was invited as a first guitarist eve. He will play Villa-Lobos’ Concerto with the Tapiola Sinfonietta under the baton of Olli Mustonen, and in a numerous chamber music festivals, where he plays, besides recitals, chamber music with such renowed musicians as the violinists Pekka Kuusisto, Baiba Skride, Arvid Engegård, and cellist Jan-Erik Gustafsson.
During the last years Ismo Eskelinen’s career has widely expanded outside the “guitar world”. He is one of the very few guitarists who regularly is invited to perform with with the best orchestras. In 2005 he premiered Jukka Tiensuu’s Guitar Concerto “Aim” with the Finnish Radio Symphony Orchestra. The performance was conducted by their chief conductor Sakari Oramo, also known as a chief conductor of the City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra. Five-movement work includes two cadenzas written and partly improvised by Eskelinen. In 2003 Eskelinen performed Tan Dun’s concerto with the FRSO, conducted by John Storgårds. Both these performances were televised by the Finnish Broadcasting Company. Other orhestras that have invited - and reinvited - Eskelinen as a soloist during the past years are such as the Tapiola Sinfonietta, the Sinfonia Lahti, the Tampere Philharmonic, the Ostrobothnian Chamber Orchestra, the Basel Philharmonic, the Stringendo Chamber Orchestra (Paris), the Chamber Orchestra of Lapland and the Virtuosi di Kuhmo. He is a regular guest in such festivals as Helsinki Festival, Savonlinna Opera Festival, Kuhmo Chamber Music Festival, Musica Nova Helsinki, Naantali Chamber Music Festival and Turku Music Festival.
Eskelinen became widely known in Finland when he performed weekly as a “classical house musician” of a popular prime time current affairs TV talk show "Päivärinta" 2003-04. He presented a wide selection of guitar music from classics to modern times. A new series around music is now being planned.
Tiensuu Concerto on Finnish national television 2.10.2005
Jukka Tiensuu’s Guitar Concerto “Aim”, that was written for Ismo, was premiered 20.4.2005 with the Finnish Radio Symphony orchestra, Sakari Oramo as a conducter. The Premier in fullpacked Finlandia-hall was a great success among the audience and critics. Also the two cadences, that Ismo had composed and partly improvised, were praised widely. The Finnish Broadcasting company, YLE, is sending the concert on TV1- channel on 2.10.2005.
Alba-records will release Ismo’s new recording in December 2005
The recording will include music by Arvo Pärt, Peteris Vasks, Luca Francesconi, Minoru Miki, Toru Takemitsu and Leo Brouwer. Along with solopieces, the recording includes Arvo Pärt’s Fratres, played with the Ostrobothnian Chamber Orchestra with the conductor Juha Kangas.
Olli Mustonen’s guitar sonata Jehkin Iivana was premiered at the Kuhmo-festival on July
The Sonata, that is dedicated to Ismo, has been a part of Ismo’s recital program ever since. Since its premier in sold-out Kuhmo-house the piece has been a great success everywhere that it has been performed. Inspired by the the great runo singer Iivana Shemeikka(1843-1911), also known with the name Jehkin Iivana, the sonata makes a unique combination of Finnish folk poetry singing tradition and Mustonen’s dynamic, toccata-like virtuoso writing.
The Moritzburgfestival in Germany has invited Ismo as a first guitarist ever to perform on 2006 festival.
Tapiola Sinfonietta conducted by Olli Mustonen has invited Ismo as their soloist for the spring 2006.
The new tangoquintet will start in 2006. The members are ,along with Ismo: Mika Väyrynen, bandoneon, Henrik Perello, violin, Kirmo Lintinen, piano and Tarja Nyberg, doublebass.
The Croatian-born composer Jovanka Trbojevic is composing a new solopiece for Ismo.
The listing of Finnish guitarmusic compiled by Ismo was published by Fimic on September.
