Sehr fantasievoll ist auch das Klarinettenkonzert ‘Tales of Joy, Passion and Love’, das von Kari Kriikku inspiriert und technisch großartig gespielt wird. Auf den virtuosen ersten Satz (Tales of Joy) folgt ein meditatives Adagio ‘Tales of Passion’ mit einigen aufrauschenden Passagen. Der dritte Satz, ‘Tales of Love’, verwendet einen Text von Thomas Moore (1779–1852) den Pulkkis von einem Bariton singen lässt: eine originelle und musikalisch starke Schöpfung!

‘Vernal Bloom’ ist ein kurzes und freudiges Stück über den Frühling, vor dem Hintergrund der Geburt von Pulkkis’ erstem Kind. Auch hier knüpft der Komponist nicht an die unmittelbar zeitgenössische Musik an, sondern sucht eher weiter zu entwickelnde Bezugspunkte im ersten Viertel des 20. Jahrhunderts. Das ergibt eine attraktive Musik, die durchaus unserer jetzigen Zeit entspricht und ein breites Publikum ansprechen kann.

Interpretationen und die Tonaufnahme sind von hoher Qualität.

It’s made up of seven seamlessly connected “fantasias,” as the composer calls them, each having a descriptive title. In the introductory one [track-1], glistening strings suggest a calm glassy sea, and introduce an angular sighing riff (AS) [track-1, beginning at 00:07] that will act as a unifying motif throughout the piece.

Woodwinds, brass and harp join in the following fantasia entitled “On the Shore” [track-2], which the composer says was inspired by his seeing waves striking the coast of Iceland. There’s something of Debussy’s (1862–1918) La Mer…Sibelius’ (1865–1957) fifth symphony (1915, revised 1919), and Ravel’s (1875–1937) Daphnis and Chloé (1912) in this mesmerizing section.

However, it’s the calm before the storm, which Pulkkis conjures up in the next three fantasias named “The Wind,” “Rough Sea” and “Approaching Storm” [tracks-3, 4 and 5]. Stabbing allusions to AS and heavy duty percussion make this the most exciting part of the poem with passages calling to mind Richard Strauss’ (1864–1949) Ein Heldenleben (1897–98).

After an arresting thunder and lightning-streaked passage, [track-5, beginning at 03:19] Neptune’s wrath…abates in “The Clam” [tracks-6], which gives way to the concluding fantasia, “On the Waves.” It ends this extraordinary seascape in a benign state with a sinusoidal contemplation of ocean motion.

As we’ve noted before the Finns seem to have a real knack for turning out superb contemporary clarinet concertos. To wit, Magnus Lindberg’s (b. 1958) highly acclaimed one of 2002, and Jukka Tiensuu’s from 2007…

Well, here’s a third which Pulkkis calls Tales of Joy, Passion, and Love. It’s in three adjoining movements corresponding sequentially to each of the sentiments in the title. The last one was composed first in 2005, with the other two following in 2010.

Inspired by the composer’s love for opera, he likens the clarinet’s role to that of a leading tenor. Carrying this a couple of steps further, there are stage directions for several members of the orchestra (see the albummore....

Review By Hubert Culot ,MusicWeb International,August 2011

Although still under forty Uljas Pulkkis already has a substantial and varied output to his credit and has been awarded a number of prizes. He received the First Prize of the 1999 Queen Elisabeth Composition Competition for his work for piano and orchestra The Tears of Ludovico and this brought him some international recognition. His concerto Enchanted Garden (2000) was awarded the first prize at the 2001 UNESCO International Rostrum of Composers.