Bram van Sambeek Aho and Fagerlund Concertos / Solo Works on BIS SACD
Press release date: 25 October 2016
EXTREME BASSOON
Bram van Sambeek
SACD release on BIS label
Two Bassoon Concertos by
Kalevi Aho and
Sebastian Fagerlund
Lahti Symphony Orchestra conducted by
Okko Kamu and Dima Slobodeniouk
International release date 2 December 2016
“I endured long trials to define my own limits, such as when my nose started bleeding or I had
to find a note that other bassoon freaks on the internet claimed to have played.”
(Bram van Sambeek on the intensity of learning these two works for bassoon)
Dutch instrumentalist Bram van Sambeek is a passionate advocate for the versatility and
expressivity of his bassoon and is the lead ambassador of the Save The Bassoon campaign
(launched at the Holland Festival 2015).
His debut recording on the BIS label features bassoon concertos and solo works by two
Finnish composers at the top of their game, Kalevi Aho (on a mission to compose a concerto
for every main orchestral instrument) and Sebastian Fagerlund. These two composers have
very different styles and have devised substantial symphonic works that put the bassoonist
very much to the fore and push the instrument’s and player’s capabilities to the extreme.
In Mana, Fagerlund’s concerto, he gives the bassoon the role of a spiritual leader (van
Sambeek says he feels like a kind of shaman) conjuring up new sound worlds from the
orchestra. (Kalevi Aho, on the other hand, has endeavoured to enrich and expand the solo
instrument’s sonic and expressive possibilities through his use of orchestration and describes
his concerto as ‘quite symphonic in character’.
In preparation for the concerto Fagerlund also wrote the solo piece Woodlands, which van
Sambeek includes here together with Aho’s dramatic Solo V. Robert von Bahr, founding
director of BIS, refers to Bram as ‘indecently gifted’ and goes on to say “The playing is beyond
incredible – how can anyone play an unwieldy instrument like that?” The Lahti Symphony
Orchestra is conducted by Okko Kamu for the Fagerlund, and Dima Slobodeniouk for the Aho.
As part of van Sambeek’s 2011 Borletti-Buitoni Trust Award, BBT co-commissioned Mana and
supported this recording. The Trust is also co-commissioning another concerto from Kalevi
Aho for two bassoons and orchestra for Bram.
See Bram’s premiere performance of Fagerlund’s Mana here:
http://www.classiclive.com/fagerlund-mana-full-video
FURTHER PRESS INFORMATION: Debra Boraston T. 01424 883307 M. 07989 434388
E. debra@henrymoorestudio.co.uk http://www.bbtrust.com/
http://bramvansambeek.com
BRAM VAN SAMBEEK bassoon
First bassoonist to receive the prestigious Dutch Music Prize
(2009)
In 2011 he won a Borletti-Buitoni Award and was admitted to
the Chamber Music Society Two Programme of New York’s
Lincoln Center.
2002-2011 he was principal bassoonist of Rotterdam
Philharmonic Orchestra, a post he left to pursue a solo career.
As a soloist he has performed with, among others, the
Gothenburg, Lahti and Oulu Symphony Orchestras, Netherlands
Chamber Orchestra and Combattimento Consort.
He plays regularly as guest principal with leading orchestras such
as London Symphony Orchestra and Mahler Chamber Orchestra.
His own festival, Liquid Music Festival, at the Muziekgebouw
starts in July 2017 and aims to fluently combine extremely
different styles of music within one flowing concert of 17 parts
lasting three days and nights.
He embraces many musical styles including jazz, rock, heavy
metal and world music as well as classical.
He teaches bassoon at the conservatories in Rotterdam,
Amsterdam and The Hague.
See interviews with Bram here on the BBT website:
http://www.bbtrust.com/2011/awards/bram_van_sambeek.htm
l?view=video
See Bram’s premiere performance of Fagerlund’s Mana here:
http://www.classiclive.com/fagerlund-mana-full-video
