Saariaho: Notes on Light / Orion / Mirage

"(Mirage) caters ideally for Mattila's sense of drama. Conductor Christoph Eschenbach excels also in Orion (2002), a gripping essay for orchestra."
Michael Kennedy, The Sunday Telegraph, September 28, 2008

"The soloists, orchestra and conductor find a magnificent way into the heart of Saariaho's music."
Risto Nordell, YLE Radio 1, September 11, 2008

"Saariaho has always had an extraordinary ear for a beauty of sound, best described in terms of light."
Martin Cotton, BBC Music Magazine, September 2008, Performance**** / Sound ****

Following the acclaimed 2006 song cycle Quatre Instants (ODE 1100-5), the latest collaboration from star soprano Karita Mattila and her compatriot Kaija Saariaho is Mirage, the setting of a trance-induced incantation by the Mexican healer María Sabína (1894-1985). This recording features the work's world première performance from March 13th, 2008 in Paris. The ecstatic 15-minute piece is written for soprano, cello and orchestra, featuring cellist Anssi Karttunen and the Orchestre de Paris under its music director Christoph Eschenbach - one of today's greatest champions of contemporary music.

Following the U.K. première performance of Mirage, The Times raved, "Few singers other than Mattila will be able to hurl the voice into such high ecstasy, bend its tones and express the entire transformation in such racked yet exultant body language. (…) this is a small but important work in Saariaho's increasingly fruitful development." (Hilary Finch, The Times, March 24, 2008)

Anssi Karttunen also performs Notes on Light, the cello concerto that Saariaho wrote for him in 2006. Also featured on this CD is Orion, the largest orchestral work Saariaho has written to date.