Kalevi Kiviniemi - Recordings

Recordings

Kiviniemi's discography numbers more than 140 titles as of 2010, including recordings made on historic organs in the USA, Japan, the Philippines, Australia, Italy, France, Switzerland and Germany, such as the Cavaillé-Coll organ of the Church of St. Ouen, Rouen. Kiviniemi was the first to record the complete organ works of Jean Sibelius, reviewed in 2010:

'Judicious' is an apt description of Kiviniemi's playing style, as well as his choice of organ and repertoire. Whether it's the mighty Cavaillé-Coll of Saint-Ouen, the Grand Paschen organ of Pori’s Central Church or the noble Kangasala at Lakeuden Risti, one senses his choices are carefully made, the music matched to the instrument and its unique acoustic. This Sibelius recital is no exception, the late-19th-century Walcker – three manuals, with 16' and 32' pipes – seems ideally suited to the thrust and scale of the works at hand.

OrganEra recordings

With the Finnish publisher Fuga he began in 2001 a series of recordings, OrganEra, planned to contain 20 volumes.

• Vol. 1 Renaissance-Tänze, works of Francesco Bendusi, Antonio Valente, Tielman Susato, Adriano Banchieri, Hans Neusidler, and Claude Gervaise, among others, recorded on the Renaissance organ of the Schlosskirche in Schmalkalden, 2001
• Vol. 2 Bamboo Organ, works of Michel Corrette, Jean-Baptiste Lully, Jean-Philippe Rameau, Antonio de Cabezón, Juan Bautista José Cabanilles, Luis de Milán, Luys de Narváez, Fortunato Chelleri, Johann Kaspar Kerll, Gaetano Piazza, Gioachino Rossini, John Blow, and John Stanley, among others, recorded on the bamboo organ of Las Piñas in Manila, 2003
• Vol. 3 Heroic Song, recorded on the organ of Lapua Cathedral, 2003
• Vol. 4 Angel Dream, transcriptions for organ, recorded on the organ of Lapua Cathedral, 2003
• Vol. 5 Waltzing Matilda, recorded on the Grand Concert Organ of the Melbourne Town Hall,
• Vol. 6 Serassi, Italian organ music, works of Niccolo Moretti, Antonio Diana, Baldassare Galuppi, Vincenzo Palafuti, Michelangelo Rossi, Domenico Zipoli and Padre Davide da Bergamo, among others, recorded on the Serassi Organ of San Biagio in Caprino Bergamasco, 2004
• Vol. 7 Sibelius, Jean Sibelius Complete Organ Works, recorded on the Walcker of the Stadtkirche in Winterthur, 2004
• Vol. 8 Canonnade, recorded on the Holzhey Organ of the abbey church in Neresheim, 2004
• Vol. 9 Bombarde, recorded on the organ of the Matthäuskirche in Stuttgart, 2004
• Vol. 10 Liszt
• Vol. 11 Wurlitzer
• Vol. 12 Jehan Alain, works of Jehan Alain, recorded on the organ of the Church of the Cross in Lahti, 2006
• Vol. 13 Franck, organ works of César Franck, recorded at the Central Pori Church, 2009
• Vol. 14 Cavaillé-Coll, works of Marcel Dupré, Henri Nibelle, César Franck, Alexandre Guilmant, Charles-Marie Widor, and improvisation of Kiviniemi, recorded in church of St. Ouen, Rouen, 2008 and 2009

Other selected recordings

• Chicago Concert, works of Gabriel Pierné, Joseph Bonnet, Marcel Dupré, Charles-Marie Widor, Camille Saint-Saëns, Aulis Sallinen, Joonas Kokkonen, Aimo Känkänen, Jean Sibelius and improvisation of Kiviniemi, 2000 details
• Lakeuden Ristin urut (Organ of the Lakeuden Risti church), works of Franz Liszt (arr. Kiviniemi), César Franck, Alexandre Guilmant, Marcel Dupré, Pierre Cochereau, his own, Oskar Merikanto, recorded in Seinäjoki in Lakeuden Risti (designed by Alvar Aalto), on an instrument built by the Kangasala organ factory, 2009

Awards for recordings

Many of his recordings have won awards, Improvisation was named Star Recording by the magazine The Organ in 1999, and Visions, containing Finnish organ music, received the Janne Prize for the best Finnish solo disc. In 2009 his CD Lakeuden Ristin Urut was chosen as the organ album of the year in the US.