The Minnesota Orchestra unveiled its Grammy Award in September with a group that included (clockwise from lower left) Minneapolis Mayor Betsy Hodges, St. Paul Mayor Chris Coleman, orchestra board chair Gordon Sprenger, president Kevin Smith, principal trombone Doug Wright, Gov. Mark Dayton and music director Osmo Vanska. (Photo by Courtney Perry for the Minnesota Orchestra)
The Minnesota Orchestra will resume recording sessions this spring for its Sibelius Symphonies cycle. The project had been a victim of the 16-month lockout of musicians.
Following live performances of Sibelius's Third, Sixth and Seventh symphonies, the Orchestra will record the works in nine sessions at Orchestra Hall with BIS Records. A release date was not announced.
Osmo Vänskä and the orchestra have previously released four Sibelius symphonies on the Swedish label to good receptions. The recording of the Second and Fifth Symphonies was issued in January 2012 and earned a 2013 Grammy nomination. The second CD, featuring the First and Fourth, was released a year later and won the 2014 Grammy Award for "Best Orchestral Performance."
"It will be a happy occasion when we again bring together BIS and our Orchestra," said Vänskä in a statement. "This is meaningful repertoire to us, and it will be very gratifying for us to complete the circle on this project."
The orchestra and BIS, led by producer Rob Suff, have achieved several recording successes, including a five-disc Beethoven symphony cycle that The New York Times wrote "may be the definitive [cycle] of our time." Others included Bruckner's Fourth Symphony; an album featuring the oratorio To Be Certain of the Dawn, composed by Stephen Paulus with libretto by Michael Dennis Browne; and a pair of Beethoven piano concerto albums with Yevgeny Sudbin.
"Over the course of Osmo Vänskä's tenure, recordings have played a pivotal role in shining an international spotlight on the depth and artistry of the Vänskä-Minnesota Orchestra partnership," said Minnesota Orchestra President and CEO Kevin Smith in a press release. "Creating recordings will continue to be part of our strategy to maintain high visibility for the Orchestra and to preserve its sound, and we are happy to resume the activity with this project."
