Search - Peter Mattei, Jean Sibelius, Colin Davis :: Sibelius: Kullervo [Hybrid SACD]

Underrated symphonic poem

Fazal Majid | San Francisco, CA United States | 09/10/2006

(5 out of 5 stars)

"I bought the SACD version without any particular expectations (I try to encourage publishers to support the format by buying as many new SACD releases as possible). Kullervo is not one of the most frequently performed works of Sibelius. For these reasons, I was expecting a curiosity, a work of youth, as the low-numbered opus suggests. Far from it, this is thrilling music, the finale sent shivers down my spine, the way "Finlandia" can, but to appreciate it fully, you need to understand the story and the backstory.



The tale of Kullervo comes from the Kalevala, the Finnish national epic, and is one of unrelieved woe. The Finnish people only gained their independence after fending off th Swedes, the Russians and the Germans, and the Kalevala was a vital part in their national awakening, as is Kullervo.



Kullervo is a tragic figure in the mold of Oedipus, and directly inspired Tolkien's Turin Turambar. He is enslaved as a child, and thinks his family killed. He kills his captor, the god Ilmarinen's wife and escapes to discover his family is alive. His father sends him to collect taxes and on the way he meets and seduces a woman. They discover to their horror that she is his sister. In despair, she commits suicide. Kullervo returns to his family to find they are all dead. He decides to take revenge by slaying his evil uncle (who sold him into slavery in the first place), and eventually overcome by grief, commits suicide.



For whatever it's worth, David Hurwitz at Classics Today gives this recording a perfect 10/10.



After reviewing two other recordings, a few minor flaws crop up. The orchestra has a tendency to overpower the solists in the third movement "Kullervo and his sister". But otherwise a finely played and rousing interpretation."