Concert Review

It is not often that one gets to here a concert featuring primarily Finnish composers, and even less often does that night include an accordion concerto.
The Vaasa City Orchestra came to Evans Auditorium at Lewis and Clark College Friday as part of their Pacific Northwest Tour, a four day event that included concerts in Seattle, Bellingham and Astoria. For a small orchestra of roughly 30 player, their sound was full and well-shaped by conductor Hannu Koivula. Koivula, a trumpeter and established conudctor in his home nation, had no trouble evoking controlled expression from his group, with the focus and energy to make the silences and meaningful as the sounds.
The program was entirely composed in the twentieth and twentyfirst century by one Brazillian and four Finnish composers, but that by no means implied harmonic homogeny.
The orchestra opened with Pelleas et Melisande by Jean Sibelius, the only household name on the program and Finland’s Romantic pride and joy. The higly programmatic and lusciously tonal piece was soon forgotten in the wake of D’n’A, a concerto for orchestra and accordion written only a year ago by the orchestra’s composer in residence Markus Fagerudd. Highly accomplished accordion player Veli Kujala joined the orchestra, the same soloist who premiered the piece in 2007 with Vaasa. The piece opened in chaos, Mr Kujala pounding uncerimonsiously on the keys while accompanied by arhythmic riffs in the orchestra. Eerie atonalism on this unusual and wheezy instrument made it difficult to listen to at points, but I can now say I have seen someone “shred” an accordion. While the music must be judged on a personal basis based on tolerance and enjoyment of the erractic and bizarre tendencies of modern compositions, neither the execution, nor the clear talent of young Mr Kujala, were questionable. When the piece ended on repeated, jolting fortissimo chords, I had to admit it was an experience, but one I would not like to repeat.
The second half of the program had as much, if far less severe, contrast. It began with a movement from Toivo Kuula’s South Ostrobothnian Suite 1, an intense and densely orchestrated piece born out of the Sibelius tradition, with rich harmonies and pastoral beauty. Mr Kuula, explained Mr Koivula ,was a native of Vaasa and died very young (he was shot and died of complications at the age of 35), and this piece was one of the “beautiful treasures” he left behind. Three pieces by another Finnish composer Vaino Raitio followed, reminiscent of the dances from The Nutcracker and full of rhythmic, interweaving lines. Mr Kujala came back for the final stage in a wonderful redemption of the enjoyablility of his instrument. Egberto Gismonti’s Suite de Gismonti deomstrated the appropriateness of an accordian in combination with an orchestra, both highlighting and integrating the instrument into the group’s sound. The groovy, dance-like rhythms were supported by an appealing combination of consonance and disonance. The musical interest, along with the undeniable virtuosity of Mr Kujala, who fell to his knees at one point, so moved was he by the intensity of a cadenza, made it a memorable finale.
The intimate crowd, noticeably few of which were LC students, rose to their feet in appreciation, but sat again as more troops in the personage of brass players were brought onstage for the encore. Knowing twitters arose from the audience as the familiar and somewhat overzealous chorale rose from the beefy brass section marking the beginning of Sibelius’ Finlandia. We were prompted to rise for the hymn, now a melody of nationalistic importance. It was a fitting end to an enjoyable and musically educational night, with Finnish music presented by a talented orchestra who understand the musical traditions of their native land.