Roland Pöntinen is one the most widely recorded contemporary pianists with well over 100 titles on labels like BIS, c p o, Philips, EMI, Arte Nova and his own label Haddock. The repertoire on these recordings mirrors his interest in a variety of musical styles, much of the well known literature for piano from Bach to Ligeti but also a good share of more seldom heard works by Busoni, Pfitzner and Szymanowski. Pöntinen’s recordings are often linked to certain themes.
Evocation (BIS-661) reflects his fascination for a bygone era, the ”Golden Age of The Piano” and is performed on a Steinway from 1898.
On For Agnès (Haddock, HDDK 1908), dedicated to his daughter, Pöntinen plays famous pieces with a children’s theme, from Schumann’s Kinderszenen to a selection of Children’s Songs by Chick Corea.
Evening Bells (BIS-1164) is a Christmas album with Liszt’s Weihnachtsbaum as centre piece combined with works by Bach, Messiaen and Busoni.
Pianorama (BIS-1326) is a cinematic recital with music from some of Pöntinen’s favourite films (by Fellini, Kubrick, Bergman, Malles a.o.) including his own arrangement of Nino Rota’s music from Amarcord.
On two recordings Pöntinen plays the harpsichord, Schnittke Concerto grosso No.1 (BIS-377) and Bach & Sons/My Bach on Viola (Japan title) with violaist Nobuko Imai (Philips 454 449-2).
Sometimes he likes to improvise on the spot, like in the end of his own piece, Camera, on The Burlesque Trombone (BIS-318) or in the cadenza of Puumala’s monumental piano concerto Seeds of Time (Alba, ABCD 319).
