Thomas Ades
, one of today's most popular composers, is known for operas and orchestral works with detailed programs that are evocatively brought to life. The four works on this collection by the
Finnish Radio Symphony Orchestra
are billed as recent and, in several cases, as world premieres. This is a bit misleading; two of the works are arrangements, and the
Hotel Suite
from
Powder Her Face
is a set of pieces newly extracted from the opera that made
Ades
popular (and controversial) in the 1990s. Those work perfectly well as an orchestral suite, and the other works give an idea of what
has been up to lately, which is very much in line with his successful earlier work. The last work on the program,
Dawn, Chacony for orchestra
, at any distance, is a genuine world premiere, written during the COVID-19 pandemic and inventively using the Baroque chacony (chaconne) form as a vehicle for creating sounds that can recombine in various ways, depending on where the players are sitting. Perhaps the most attractive of the lot is the titular
Maerchentaenze
, adapted from a 2020 work for violin and piano. The German title means "Fairy Tale Dances," and the work lives up to the image, with magical melodies on the violin of
Pekka Kuusisto
, who has been one of
' champions. The idea of a Finnish orchestra devoting an album to
' works is not odd; the orchestra's new conductor,
Nicholas Collon
, is British, and by the time of the album's release in 2022,
' renown had become international. A delightful release. ~ James Manheim