BIS Releases Final Album

The Swedish record label BIS has released the final disc in Osmo Vanska and the Minnesota Orchestra's acclaimed Beethoven symphonies cycle, an album that includes the Second Symphony, one of the final works of the composer's early period; and the lively Seventh Symphony, which Richard Wagner famously termed "the apotheosis of dance." The new album marks the completion of a five-year, five-disc initiative to record the complete Beethoven symphonies.

The disc is now available in stores, at minnesotaorchestra.org and as a download on major internet music sites.

Vanska and the Orchestra recorded the Second and Seventh Symphonies at Minneapolis' Orchestra Hall in sessions during January 2008. The BIS team, led by producer Rob Suff, recorded the album as a Super Audio CD (SACD), using surround sound recording technology to reproduce the sound of the concert hall as faithfully as possible. BIS Hybrid SACDs are playable on all standard CD players.

Final release in acclaimed cycle

The new CD follows four highly-praised predecessors in the series, which The New York Times wrote "may be the definitive [Beethoven cycle] of our time." The first album was released in January 2005 and featured Beethoven's Fourth and Fifth Symphonies; it was labeled "the modern Beethoven recording par excellence" (Financial Times, London) and "beautifully realized in every respect" (ClassicsToday.com). In May 2006, critical raves greeted the release of the second CD, which features the Third (Eroica) and Eighth Symphonies: The Times (London) called the recording "outstanding," and The Daily Telegraph wrote: "These are fiery, scrupulously detailed performances a la Toscanini."

The Grammy-nominated third recording, which showcases four vocal soloists and the Minnesota Chorale in a performance of the Ninth (Choral) Symphony, was hailed as "a Beethoven Ninth for our times" (BBC Music) and "some of the most vivid Beethoven playing on the market" (The New Yorker) following its release in October 2006. After the December 2007 release of the fourth CD, featuring the First and Sixth (Pastoral) Symphonies, The Times (London) observed that the disc "maintains the high standard [of the series]," while Finland's Etela-Suomen Sanomat proclaimed that Vanska and the Orchestra "have finalized their cause to the highest level of perfectionism."

In January 2009 Vanska, the Orchestra and BIS will begin a new five-year initiative to record Beethoven's piano concertos with Russian-born soloist Yevgeny Sudbin.

The collaborators: Minnesota Orchestra, Osmo Vanska and BIS

Led by Music Director Osmo Vanska, the Minnesota Orchestra is recognized as one of America's leading orchestras. Founded in 1903, it performs nearly 175 concerts each year, with 400,000 attending, and reaches more than 85,000 music lovers annually through its education programs. The Orchestra is heard through an award-winning series of weekly radio broadcasts produced by Minnesota Public Radio, with many concerts subsequently heard on American Public Media's national programs, SymphonyCast and Performance Today, and through its vast collection of recordings dating to the 1920s. Having premiered and commissioned nearly 200 compositions since 1903, the Orchestra continues to nourish a strong commitment to contemporary composers. Its upcoming performance tours include a concert at New York's Carnegie Hall (May 2009) and an eight-city European tour (February and March 2009).

Finnish conductor Osmo Vanska, named 2005 Conductor of the Year by Musical America, became the Minnesota Orchestra's tenth music director in September 2003. During his first five seasons in Minnesota he led the Orchestra on two major European tours—including the ensemble's debut at such prominent European music festivals as the BBC Proms and the Edinburgh Festival—as well as three tours to communities across Minnesota. Vanska is a longtime collaborator with BIS, having recorded more than 60 albums on the label in the last 15 years, including an award-winning collection of Sibelius discs with the Lahti Symphony.

BIS, founded in 1973 its current president Robert von Bahr, has developed a reputation for recording eclectic repertoire, including early music as well as works by many contemporary composers, ranging from Kalevi Aho to Christopher Rouse. The more than 1,400 titles in the BIS catalogue (www.bis.se) also include many mainstays of the concert hall, from a Tchaikovsky cycle with Neeme Jarvi to a Bach cycle with the Bach Collegium Japan, as well as Vanska's Sibelius collection. The label, based in Sweden, is respected for the superior sound quality of its releases. -- www.minnesotaorchestra.org

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