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Olli Mustonen PDF Print E-mail
mustonen.jpgOlli Mustonen has established himself as one of the most exciting pianists of his time. His brilliant technique and startling interpretations have challenged and fascinated audiences throughout Europe and America. He is also the founder of the Helsinki Festival Orchestra and is chief conductor of Tapiola Sinfonietta in Helsinki.
Born in Helsinki, he began his studies in piano, harpsichord and composition at the age of five. His first piano teacher was Ralf Gothoni and he subsequently studied piano with Eero Heinonen and composition with Einojuhani Rautavaara.
At the heart of both piano playing and conducting is his life as a composer; the deeply held conviction that each performance must have all the freshness of a first performance, so that audience and performer alike encounter the composer as a living contemporary. For Mustonen, to follow traditional interpretations unthinkingly is uncreative, but every bit as uncreative is the performance that seeks only to be different. This same spirit of enquiry leads him to explore many areas of repertoire beyond the established canon.
Mustonen has worked with many of the world's leading orchestras, including the Berlin Philharmonic, Chicago Symphony, Cleveland Orchestra, Deutsches Symphonie-Orchester Berlin, London Philharmonic, Los Angeles Philharmonic, Philadelphia Orchestra, Philharmonia Orchestra and the Royal Concertgebouw; and with conductors including Ashkenazy, Barenboim, Berglund, Boulez, Chung, Dutoit, Eschenbach, Harnoncourt, Masur, Nagano, Salonen and Saraste. In recital, he frequently plays in the world≠s music capitals including Amsterdam, Berlin, London, Paris, Tokyo and Vienna. This season he leads the Camerata Salzburg on tour to Eastern Europe and the Helsinki Festival Orchestra to China; he also appears as Artist in Residence at the Usedom Festival in Germany.
Olli Mustonen's recording catalogue is exceptionally broad based and distinguished. His release on Decca of Preludes by Shostakovich and Alkan received the Edison Award and Gramophone Award for the Best Instrumental Recording. In 2002 Mustonen signed a new recording contract with Ondine records. Ondine has since released 5 discs - Bach and Shostakovich Preludes and Fugues Volume 2, Mustonen plays Sibelius, play-conducting Hindemith and Sibelius with the Helsinki Festival Orchestra, conducting Mozart Violin Concerti with Pekka Kuusisto and Tapiola Sinfonietta, and most recently a selection of Prokofiev's piano music.