Three new guitar concertos from Finland's foremost composers!

This album is in many ways a celebration of collaboration. All the concertos on the recording have been composed for Petri Kumela and he has already worked together a lot with each composer. Kumela has been actively involved in the composition processes of all concerts. Tapiola Sinfonietta and Dima Slobodeniouk are also familiar partners of Kumela.

Antti Auvinen's Andalusian Panzerwagen Jazz combines the composer's typical maximalist-anarchist style with Andalusian musical tradition, the freedom of jazz, and the merciless and conflict-seeking progress of tanks. The orchestra's instruments include various whistles, an egg cutter, dog chew toys in a sack, sandpaper, crystal glasses, gadgets imitating the sound of a squirrel and a duck, and in addition analogue synthesisers that the composer plays himself with a recording.

As the name suggests, Lotta Wennäkoski's Susurrus takes you to rustling, whining, hissing, rattling and scratching moods, for example using rulers as help. "There are many different moods in the concerto," the composer has written. "My approach has been both humorous and sincerely lyrical."

Riikka Talvitie's Without Irony moves in varied and fascinating moods. The orchestration is shamelessly brilliant at times, but the included harpsichord and the electric bow used by the guitarist also bring an intimate mysticism to the piece.

Petri Kumela is one of the most versatile and interesting classical guitarists in Finland. Kumela has released ten albums so far and received several awards for them. Kumela's previous album "Pieniä Otuksia - musical bestiari" (2020) was chosen as YLE's album of the year and won the Classic EMMA award. Petri Kumela is nominated for the 2023 Nordic Council Music Award.