Ondine Store: October 19, 2010

Origins and History

The roots of Ondine date back to 1985 when founder Reijo Kiilunen released the very first Ondine album under the auspices of the renowned Finnish Kuhmo Chamber Music Festival. The label’s initial mission was to produce one live album at the Festival each season. The fourth album, however, featured Einojuhani Rautavaara’s opera Thomas (ODE 704-2), raising major international attention and opening the ground for overseas distribution. Kiilunen, who was running the Festival’s concert agency and had begun the recording activity part-time, soon decided to devote himself fully to the development of this new business, producing and editing the first 50 releases himself.

In 1991, Seppo Siirala joined as producer, and the Helsinki-based company has been expanding steadily since, currently numbering six full-time employees. Ondine has released 400 carefully selected CDs, Hybrid SACDs and DVDs, with around 250 titles remaining in its active catalogue. The label’s discs enjoy wide international distribution and are also available for digital download from several online outlets.

Over the years, Ondine has established itself as one of the most respected labels in classical music, and its products have received numerous prizes at the Cannes (MIDEM) Classical Awards, the Gramophone Awards, the BBC Music Magazine Awards and the Classical Internet Awards. In a larger context, Ondine’s history of success has played a part in the strong development of Finland’s cultural visibility internationally, which has gone hand in hand with the economic and technological rise of the country since the mid-1990s. The label of origin "Made in Finland" is today widely recognized as a guaranty of exceptional quality and reliability and Ondine is proud to have shared in the forging of this reputation.

The Ondine Philosophy

For over twenty years, Ondine has remained true to its founding principle, the uncompromising devotion to excellence in recorded music. The label’s mission is to support new creative efforts in the field of contemporary music, and to showcase renditions by top-rank artists that bring a new dimension to established works of the classical repertoire.

Building on the extraordinary abundance of musical talent in Finland, Ondine has, since its beginnings, maintained a strong commitment to championing the best in Finnish contemporary music and world-class Finnish artists. Hence, the company’s success has been inextricably linked with the careers of living composers such as Einojuhani Rautavaara, Magnus Lindberg and Kaija Saariaho. A prestigious roster of artists such as star sopranos Karita Mattila and Soile Isokoski, pianist Olli Mustonen, clarinetist Kari Kriikku, guitarist Timo Korhonen and violinist Pekka Kuusisto, to name only a few, has contributed to establish Ondine as the face of Finland on the international market of recorded classical music.

In synergy with the increasing presence of Finnish artists and composers on the international stage, Ondine has, in parallel, developed its international profile by intensifying collaboration with non-Finnish artists. Ondine has notably attracted stars such as Vladimir Ashkenazy and Christoph Eschenbach and developed innovative partnerships with prestigious orchestras. In 2005, Ondine and The Philadelphia Orchestra signed a groundbreaking partnership agreement, the Orchestra’s first recording contract in ten years and an event that was extensively covered by the international press.

Recording nearly the complete works by Einojuhani Rautavaara has remained one of Ondine’s great successes. A real boom began with the release of the best-selling CD Angel of Light in 1996. Non-Finnish contemporary composers with whom Ondine has closely collaborated include Christopher Rouse, John Corigliano and Julian Anderson.

An exceptional case in the world of independent labels, Ondine has increasingly expanded its recorded repertoire from chamber to orchestral music and opera. Strong partnerships have linked Ondine to the Helsinki Philharmonic Orchestra, the Finnish Radio Symphony Orchestra, the Tampere Philharmonic and the Tapiola Sinfonietta, in addition to the Orchestre de Paris and The Philadelphia Orchestra. Ondine recordings feature conductors such as Esa-Pekka Salonen, Leif Segerstam, Sakari Oramo, John Storgårds, Jukka-Pekka Saraste, Mikko Franck and Oliver Knussen.

Ondine’s reputation is partially founded on its high standards of sound quality, sculptured essentially by sound engineer Enno Mäemets and producer Seppo Siirala. Currently all recordings are, naturally, made in Super Audio quality.

A reference to the beautiful, mercurial water nymph in the first movement of Maurice Ravel’s Gaspard de la nuit, Ondine’s name reflects the living spirit that has guided the label throughout its history: an unconditional belief in quality, a boundless love for music, and a firm vision of the future of recording.

For more information, visit the Ondine website.