Jan 21, 2010

Idée Fixe played a wonderfully inspiring concert at the Salmagundi Club on January 21st. Their bold choices for the program included works by Gabriel Pierne, Lars-Erik Larsson, Vincent Persichetti and Samuel Barber. In addition the audience heard very interesting works by contemporary Finnish composers. These pieces by Kirmo Lintinen and Marko Portin proved that contemporary music in Finland is alive and well and sounds exciting and new at the same time. Many times contemporary music can sound abstract and too theoretical to the listeners, who most of the time do not have the luxury to study the works before the concert takes place. This was not the case in Idée Fixe’s concert. These works sounded fresh and musically alive. Perhaps it is the nature of the combination of the instruments, woodwinds in this case, that gave the clarity and exactness to the execution that made this particular concert such a pleasure to the listener. Kirmo Lintinen and Marko Portin have managed to create music that is at the same time extremely interesting and stimulating to listen to. Job well done!

Idée Fixe, whose five members are all members of leading Finnish symphony orchestras, has found something very original in their ensemble, and we could all enjoy the fruits of their efforts in the concert. This kind of musicianship is something worth to preserve and support. It grew out of a need to form a chamber music ensemble from orchestra musicians and has developed into artistically cultivated organism. We wish Idée Fixe succes in their career hope to hear them soon again in New York City.