Timo Keinonen Sakari Tepponen Harri Karri - Sibelius WoodNymph Op15 Lonely SkiTrail Swanwhite Op54 (17 tracks) +Album Reviews

Wonderful music!

Sren Thomsen | Århus Denmark | 10/15/2002

(4 out of 5 stars)

"The Woodnymph is one of Sibelius' early tone poems and while it doesn't hold up against his later works in the genre, it is certainly worth a listen. It is a full scale epic work, lasting over 20 mins, in the grand romantic style with a lot of good tunes and a poweful finale. Not one of his most personal compositions, but very, VERY good. And since this is the only recording of it, it is worth getting before the CD goes out of print.
The disc also features the very short piece A Lonely Ski Trail, which isn't anything spectacular, but very atmospheric.
And then there's the world premiere recording of the complete score to Swanwhite, incidental music to the play of the same name. Pretty low key, but some wonderful things going on, particularly with the woodwinds. Very nice.Overall I wouldn't call this an ESSENTIAL Sibelius disc, but undoubtedly something for the fan who already has most of Sibelius' major works and wants something new for his/her collection."

Another Fine Lahti CD.

B. R. Merrick | 12/06/2007

(5 out of 5 stars)

""The Wood Nymph" is the highlight of this one. Don't expect the nebulous rhythms and airy phrasing of later Sibelius masterpieces. This one is dominated by uncompromising rhythmic structure, but still retains the fortspinnung or continuo style of other Sibelius works. In contrast, "Swanwhite" is subdued and quietly beautiful. Vänskä and the Lahti Symphony prove once again that they are the masters of this man's music. Performances are solid, exacting, detailed, and exhilarating. The technical aspects of the recording only accentuate the marvelous playing. I highly recommend just about any Sibelius music as performed by this ensemble. Simply terrific."

GENIUS!

Joseph M. Kennedy | Wilmington, MA | 08/24/2000

(5 out of 5 stars)

"Bear in mind that this is a world-premiere recording; to my knowledge there is no other. Brahms would have been proud of this opus.Remarkably, we have lived long enough to be the first to hear this gorgeous tone poem, since the last performance in 1936!, before the dawn of WWII, long before most of us listeners were born. Just for fun, if you like this, search out Horatio Parker's Northern Ballad. I gave the latter to a friend, as an accompaniment to GW Chadwick's symphony #2, and he liked it better than the main entre."

A superb and striking release

G.D. | Norway | 12/28/2009

(5 out of 5 stars)

"I'll emphasize from the outset that this recording is a mandatory acquisition for anyone even remotely attracted to Sibelius's soundworld, even if the works featured are unfamiliar. The tone poem Skogsrået (The Wood-Nymph) receives its premiere recording here and the fact that it has remained unrecorded for so long proves to be one of the most striking omissions of the history of recorded music. It is, indeed, a flawed masterpiece; flawed in the sense that it could have benefited from an extra overhaul from Sibelius's hand, but a masterpiece in the sense that the thematic material is fully on the level of his more famous works; the thematic developments are generally convincing and the orchestration magnificent as usual. The atmosphere is that of a cross between the Karelia suite (in the opening) and the Lemminkainen Legends, in particular the hauntingly dramatic Homeward Journey.

We also get the original melodrama, scored for speaker, horn, strings and piano and using a text from viktor Rydberg, which is just as stirring, and in which the chamberlike textures provide an effective contrast to the darker and more opulent soundworld of the orchestral version. The disc also presents us with the short melodrama Ett ensamt skidspår (A Lonely Ski-trail), dating from 1925 but scored for harp and strings in 1948. It is more negligible, but still atmospheric enough to warrant a listening.

The main body of this issue is given to the first complete recording of the incidental music to Svanehvit (Swanwhite). Resembling the music for Pelleas & Melisande in mood and coloristic effects, it is a quite effective work of shimmering, frozen halflights and wonderful use of textural nuances, even though - admittedly - I suppose most listeners will manage just fine with the seven movements of the suite available elsewhere. Overall, the performances are quite superb - the Lahti players are fully at home in the idiom and Vänskä once again proves himself to be an ideal Sibelius interpreter. The recorded sound is of demonstration quality, adding glory to an already essential release."

Search - Timo Keinonen, Sakari Tepponen, Harri Karri :: Sibelius: Wood-Nymph Op15; Lonely Ski-Trail; Swanwhite Op54

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