Lost Landscapes [CD]

Anders Hillborg is Sweden's leading composer: born in 1959, he has devoted himself entirely to composition since 1982, and his music is performed by the world's leading orchestras and conductors. This release on Alpha is part of the partnership between the label and the Gothenburg Symphony Orchestra. It features three works by the composer. Through Lost Landscapes (premiered in 2020) illustrates the richness of his musical world: spectacular sound textures, moments of extreme tension, and the interplay of light and shadow. 'When I compose, especially for orchestra, says Hillborg, I like very much to create sounds that you can't really identify.' The use of rare instruments and the influence of electronic music punctuate Sound Atlas, premiered in 2019, which is also reminiscent of the world of Sibelius. These two works, conducted by Pekka Kuusisto for the first and by Brad Lubman for the second, are recorded here for the first time. In 2013, at the request of Renee Fleming, he wrote The Strand Settings, based on texts by the Canadian poet Mark Strand Swedish soprano Ida Falk Winland delivers an inspired performance of it, again under the direction of Pekka Kuusisto.