Search - Nylund, Viitasalo, Sibelius :: Camilla Nylund Sings

Mixed bag

Demantius | Nuneaton, UK | 06/09/2005

(3 out of 5 stars)

"This is one of a series of recitals from Hanssler in their Vocal Series published in 1999, and which I have to confess I picked up in a bargin bin. Alan Blyth gave it a warmish review in the Sept 99 Gramophone, as warm as possible given the absence of texts and translations in a full price recital. Though I note the Ingeborg Danz Brahms CD in the same series does have texts.



Comparing the Sibelius settings with Soderstrom, Otter and Karneus I found that Camilla Nylund didn't particularly have much to say that these Swedish singers didn't - perhaps since all the Sibelius settings on this CD are of Swedish poets. I can't compare Nylund with fellow Finns Monica Groop and Soile Isokoski. What I bought the CD for were the four settings of Sibelius' contemporary Kuula - but again, without texts had the same vaguely lost feeling as the Gramophone reviewer. A much better buy would be the recital "From the Heart of Finland" by Mattila reviewed March 97 Gramophone 3/1997, Ondine ODE892-2, which includes some different Kuula songs, or Camilla Nylund's Kilpinen CD on CPO, both of these with texts and translations for those of us who don't speak Finnish.



I don't have any particular comment on the Debussy or Britten settings."