Stöhr: Solo & Chamber Works for Organ Jan Lehtola, Anna-Leena Haikola, Annikka Konttori-Gustafsson

• Richard Stöhr (1874 - 1967): Suite for Organ & Violin, Op. 102:
• 1 Suite for Organ & Violin, Op. 102: I. Grave 05:56
• 2 Suite for Organ & Violin, Op. 102: II. Butterfly and Flower 04:39
• 3 Suite for Organ & Violin, Op. 102: III. Allegro giusto 06:55
• 5 Intermezzi for Piano & Organ, Op. 35:
• 4 5 Intermezzi for Piano & Organ, Op. 35: No. 1, Andante con moto 05:21
• 5 5 Intermezzi for Piano & Organ, Op. 35: No. 2, Poco presto 03:40
• 6 5 Intermezzi for Piano & Organ, Op. 35: No. 3, Allegro molto 06:23
• 7 5 Intermezzi for Piano & Organ, Op. 35: No. 4, Poco adagio 08:32
• 8 5 Intermezzi for Piano & Organ, Op. 35: No. 5, Vivace 03:31
• Organ Sonata in D Minor, Op. 33:
• 9 Organ Sonata in D Minor, Op. 33: I. Allegro con brio 14:18
• 10 Organ Sonata in D Minor, Op. 33: II. Andantino pastorale 07:07
• 11 Organ Sonata in D Minor, Op. 33: III. Finale. Allegro vivace 08:52
• Total Runtime 01:15:14

Info for Stöhr: Solo & Chamber Works for Organ

Like Korngold, Toch, Schoenberg, Zeisl and Zemlinsky, Richard Stöhr (1874–1967) was one of many Austrian composers driven into American exile by the Nazis. His generous output of music, being rediscovered at last in these Toccata Classics recordings, includes seven symphonies, much chamber music, songs, and choral and piano pieces. His output for organ is not extensive, but its quality is high: the instrument plays an important role in a number of Stöhr’s orchestral works, and here Stöhr presents the organ in two thoroughly attractive duos and an imposing solo sonata. The Sonata and Intermezzi sit downstream from Brahms in the tradition of Viennese classicism; the chromatic touches in the later Suite lean towards the language of Korngold.

Jan Lehtola, organ St. Paul Helsinki
Anna-Leena Haikola, violin
Annikka Konttori-Gustafsson, piano

Jan Lehtola
International organ virtuoso Dr Jan Lehtola is one the most successful and progressive Finnish organists of his generation. He has appeared with the Finnish Radio Symphony Orchestra, Tapiola Sinfonietta, the Lahti Symphony, Tampere Philharmonic and Ostrobothnian Chamber Orchestras and the St. Michel Strings. He has performed at many international festivals, including the Lahti Organ Festival, Kuhmo Chamber Music Festival, Time of Music in Viitasaari, the Tampere Biennale, Musica nova Helsinki, the Turku, Mikkeli, Mänttä and Hauho Music Festivals and the annual Festival of New Organ Music in London. He has worked with conductors including Kent Nagano, Juha Kangas, Sakari Oramo, Muhai Tang and Osmo Vänskä, amongst others. Dr Lehtola has also given recitals in leading European concert halls such as Gewandhaus in Leipzig and cathedrals and churches such as La Trinité in Paris, Berlin, Magdeburg, Riga and Tallinn Doms, St. Thomas Church in Leipzig, St Paul’s Cathedral and Westminster Abbey in London.

Jan Lehtola collaborates regularly with composers and has given more than 100 world and regional premieres. He has had works written for him by Harri Ahmas, Kalevi Aho, Atso Almila, Thierry Escaich, Naji Hakim, Paavo Heininen, Carita Holmström, Juha T. Koskinen, Olli Kortekangas, Juha Leinonen, Jouko and Jyrki Linjama, Jukka Linkola, Paola Livorsi, Pehr Henrik Nordgren, Axel Ruoff, Martin Stacey and Riikka Talvitie. In 2003 he organised the first International Naji Hakim Festival in Helsinki. Lehtola has been the Artistic Director of the Organo Novo Festival in Helsinki since 2007 and Chairman of the Finnish Organum Society 2009–2014.

Lehtola has recorded for the Finnish Broadcasting Company (YLE) and can be heard on more than thirty commercial recordings (on the Alba, Ondine, Jubal, IFO and Fuga labels) in repertoire including works by Johann Sebastian Bach, Naji Hakim, Paavo Heininen, Jouko Linjama, Felix Mendelssohn Bartholdy, Oskar Merikanto, Einojuhani Rautavaara, Camille Saint-Saëns, Robert Schumann and Charles-Marie Widor.

Dr. Jan Lehtola studied the organ in Helsinki (with Prof. Olli Porthan and Kari Jussila), Amsterdam (with Prof. Jacques van Oortrmerssen and Jean Boyer), Stuttgart (with Prof. Ludger Lohmann), Lyon (with Prof. Louis Robilliard) and Paris (with Prof. Naji Hakim). He graduated from the Church Music Department of the Sibelius Academy, gaining his diploma with distinction in 1998. In 2000 he gave his Sibelius Academy debut recital in Kallio Church, Helsinki, and in 2005 received a Doctorate for his dissertation on Oskar Merikanto as a transmitter of European influences to Finland. Jan Lehtola is a Lecturer in Organ Music in the Sibelius Academy. He is also active as a lecturer and a teacher of masterclasses.

Booklet for Stöhr: Solo & Chamber Works for Organ