Sibelius: Works for small orchestra
View record and artist detailsRecord and Artist Details
Composer or Director: Jean Sibelius
Label: Finlandia
Magazine Review Date: 7/1986
Media Format: Vinyl
Media Runtime: 0
Mastering:
DDD
Catalogue Number: FAD354
Tracks:
| Composition | Artist Credit |
|---|---|
| Valse triste |
Jean Sibelius, Composer
Finlandia Sinfonietta Jean Sibelius, Composer Pekka Helasvuo, Conductor |
| Canzonetta |
Jean Sibelius, Composer
Finlandia Sinfonietta Jean Sibelius, Composer Pekka Helasvuo, Conductor |
| Valse romantique |
Jean Sibelius, Composer
Finlandia Sinfonietta Jean Sibelius, Composer Pekka Helasvuo, Conductor |
| Impromptu |
Jean Sibelius, Composer
Finlandia Sinfonietta Jean Sibelius, Composer Pekka Helasvuo, Conductor |
| Presto for strings |
Jean Sibelius, Composer
Finlandia Sinfonietta Jean Sibelius, Composer Pekka Helasvuo, Conductor |
| Suite mignonne |
Jean Sibelius, Composer
Finlandia Sinfonietta Jean Sibelius, Composer Pekka Helasvuo, Conductor |
| Suite champêtre |
Jean Sibelius, Composer
Finlandia Sinfonietta Jean Sibelius, Composer Pekka Helasvuo, Conductor |
| Suite caractéristique |
Jean Sibelius, Composer
Finlandia Sinfonietta Jean Sibelius, Composer Pekka Helasvuo, Conductor |
| Romance for strings |
Jean Sibelius, Composer
Finlandia Sinfonietta Jean Sibelius, Composer Pekka Helasvuo, Conductor |
| Scenes with cranes |
Jean Sibelius, Composer
Finlandia Sinfonietta Jean Sibelius, Composer Pekka Helasvuo, Conductor |
Author: Robert Layton
A useful anthology of lighter Sibelius pieces, some of which (the Impromptu for string orchestra, Presto and Suite caracteristique) are not otherwise available. Sir Charles Groves has recorded the other two suites, the Romance in C and the two pieces, Op. 62 (HMV ESD106227-1, 5/84), and the atmospheric ''Scene with cranes'' comes as a fill-up on Simon Rattle's account of the Second Symphony (HMV EL270160-1, 1/85). The material of the Presto (1894) is in fact of earlier provenance and readers who invested in the recent issue of the two early quartets (Finlandia FAD345, 9/85) will immediately recognize it as a transcription of the scherzo movement of the B flat Quartet, Op. 4. Its companion, the Impromptu for strings, is an arrangement of the fifth and sixth Impromptus for piano of 1894.
The Italianate melancholy of the Canzonetta was much admired by Stravinsky, who made his own transcription of it. ( ''I like that kind of northern, Italianate melodism—Tchaikovsky had it too—which was part, and an attractive part of St Petersburg culture.'') The two Suites, Op. 98, are redolent of this—despite their late date: they come between the Fifth and Sixth Symphonies. Indeed, the ''Melodie elegiaque'' from the suite champetre could without exaggeration be called Tchaikovsky with a Sibelian accent. The later Op. 100, written in 1922, is distinctly 'uncaracteristique', and worlds removed from the level of inspiration and poetry of the ''Scene with cranes'' or, for that matter, the two Suites, Op. 98.
The performances are very well shaped by Pekka Helasuvo (who has the by now mandatory first name for a Finnish conductor). The Finlandia Sinfonietta are all members of the Helsinki Philharmonic—and very good they are too. Perhaps Rattle distills the stronger atmosphere in the ''Scene with cranes'' but there is a not a great deal in it. The recording is cleanly focused and well balanced and the surfaces reasonably silent.'
The Italianate melancholy of the Canzonetta was much admired by Stravinsky, who made his own transcription of it. ( ''I like that kind of northern, Italianate melodism—Tchaikovsky had it too—which was part, and an attractive part of St Petersburg culture.'') The two Suites, Op. 98, are redolent of this—despite their late date: they come between the Fifth and Sixth Symphonies. Indeed, the ''Melodie elegiaque'' from the suite champetre could without exaggeration be called Tchaikovsky with a Sibelian accent. The later Op. 100, written in 1922, is distinctly 'uncaracteristique', and worlds removed from the level of inspiration and poetry of the ''Scene with cranes'' or, for that matter, the two Suites, Op. 98.
The performances are very well shaped by Pekka Helasuvo (who has the by now mandatory first name for a Finnish conductor). The Finlandia Sinfonietta are all members of the Helsinki Philharmonic—and very good they are too. Perhaps Rattle distills the stronger atmosphere in the ''Scene with cranes'' but there is a not a great deal in it. The recording is cleanly focused and well balanced and the surfaces reasonably silent.'
Sibelius: Works for small orchestra
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