Noel In The Musiikkitalo – Jan Lehtola

The Rieger organ recently installed in the Musiikkitalo (Music Centre) in Helsinki is the largest modern concert-hall organ in the world. In its first-ever solo recording Jan Lehtola puts the instrument through its paces. His unusual programme consists of nine sets of variations on Christmas melodies by four French composers, one Franco-Lebanese and an Englishman using what is probably the only well-known Ukrainian tune. The meeting of old and new in these variations shows off the splendours of the new instrument, the virtuosic writing ranging from gossamer delicacy and sumptuous harmonies to statements of colossal power.