Leif Segerstam is such a fine conductor and musician that it’s with a heavy heart that I have to report that his music is nothing special. All three of these symphonies last about 25 minutes and are written to be played without conductor. The result is about what you’d expect: slowly drifting textural layers devoid of focus or direction. There is contrast–loud and soft–and bursts of instrumental color as various instruments and sections come and go, and there are moments of attractive sonority. But this also would be the case if Segerstam hadn’t bothered to write anything down at all and simply told the musicians to play at random. Yes, he chose the basic material, but since that’s also completely lacking in memorability it hardly matters. Presumably the performances give him all that he requires; it’s just that he should require more, mostly of himself.
