MIDEM Classical Award to Lahti SO conducted by Osmo Vänskä

A prestigious MIDEM Classical Award was given to the Lahti Symphony Orchestra, conducted by its Chief Conductor Osmo Vänskä, in Cannes on 24 January 2006. The recording ‘Nordic Spell’ (BIS-CD-1499) was the best of the category of contemporary music. In the recording the Lahti Symphony Orchestra performs under the conduction of Vänskä the Flute Concerto by Kalevi Aho, the composer-in-residence of the orchestra, and the flute soloist is Sharon Bezaly. Bezaly is the soloist in the other pieces of the recording, Flute Concerto No. 2 by Haukur Tómasson (Iceland Symphony Orchestra / Wilkinson) and The World of Montuagretta by Christian Lindberg (Swedish Chamber Orchestra / Lindberg). The recording ‘Nordic Spell’ has already earlier got a lot of international recognition, e.g. Classical Internet Award 2005 and it has been the Editor’s Choice in Gramophone and got full 10 points in the web magazines ClassicsToday and KlassikHeute.

The Lahti Symphony Orchestra has received numerous awards for its recordings done for the BIS record label, e.g. the Académie Charles Cros Grand Prix du Disque in 1993, two Gramophone Awards (in 1991 and 1996) and two Cannes Classical Awards (1997 and 2001). In 2003 the Sibelius recording ‘Rondo of the Waves’ was chosen by Gramophone as the best orchestral record of the year. In addition the recordings of the orchestra have received e.g. a platinum record and four gold records.

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