Kaija Saariaho - L'amour De Loin

Kaija Saariaho is a Finnish composer, born in Helsinki 1952. She wrote several string quartets (e.g. Private Gardens), before she in 2002 wrote her first opera L'amour de Loin. This opera uses very few implements - often only lead vocal and piano, the piano often using clusters while the female vocal especially, can sound almost schizophrenic at times. The true beauty of this composition lies in the minimalism and the atmosphere created with such small amount of implements. You could draw lines from her piano compositions to composers such as Penderecki (also described here at the index), with the difference that Saariaho uses fewer instruments to create the atmosphere she wants. Saariaho has studied in both Helsinki, Freiburg and New York and is widely acknowledged, meaning that her latest string quartet Terra Memoria had premiere in Carnegie Hall this year. L'amour de Loin is not for the weak heartet, but if you don't happen to be one of those you will surely enjoy.

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