Laura Mikkola - Hundsnes: Clavinatas Nos. 1-7, Piano Sonata No. 1 & Downtoned Beats (2020) CD-Rip

Svein Hundsnes is one of Norways most important living composers. He has written a wide-ranging body of music encompassing several vivid styles, moving seamlessly from tonal and non-tonal music to include jazz, rock and even funk. Hundsnes sequence of Clavinatas one-movement free-standing pieces with a symmetrical form that often include toccata-like vitality embody qualities that make his music so distinctive. Often syncopated, they possess short motifs, intensity and emotional ambiguity. Piano Sonata No. 1 and Downtoned Beats reflect his delight in drama and dance grooves. Finnish pianist Laura Mikkola has studied at the Sibelius Academy in Helsinki, the Curtis Institute in Philadelphia and the University School of Music in Bloomington, Indiana. She studied with Murray Perahia, Menahem Pressler, Gary Graffman, Dmitri Baskirov, Tapani Valsta and attended masterclasses of Ferenc Rados. Ms. Mikkola has been the recipient of many awards, among them the second prize in the prestigious Queen Elisabeth International Piano Competition of Brussels (1995), the first prize in the International Unisa Transnet Piano Competition in Pretoria, Republic of South Africa, the first prize in the Maj Lind Competition in Helsinki (1992), and the first prize in the International M. Ravel Piano Competition in France (1988).