With the UK braced for the arrival of Storm Éowyn today, it got me thinking of successful portrayals of storms in music.
The first piece that came to mind was Sibelius’s masterpiece Tapiola, a remarkable and vivid orchestral poem written late in his compositional career about Tapio, the spirit of the forest. Its depiction of a storm is like no other.
Listen here, in a particularly incendiary account from the Berliner Philharmoniker and Herbert von Karajan, keeping an ear out for the storm as it begins around the 16:50 mark:
Sibelius Finlandia Op.26 (1899)(a) Finlandia – Hymn (1938)(b) Song of My Heart Op.18/6 (1900)(b) The Origin of Fire Op.32 (1902, rev, 1910)(c) Pohjola’s Daughter Op.49 (1906)(d) Valse triste Op.44/1 (1904)(a) String Quartet in D minor Op. 56 ‘Voces intimae’(e) Finlandia Op.26 (1899)(f)
cSulo Saarits (baritone); eQuatuor Pascal [Jacques Dumond, Maurice Crut (violins), Léon Pascal (viola), Robert Salles (cello)]; bcHelsinki University Chorus / Martti Turunen; cdCincinnati Symphony Orchestra / Thor Johnson; aOrchestra del Maggio Musicale Fiorentino / Vittorio Gui; fPhilharmonia Orchestra / George Weldon
First Hand Records FHR85 [82’37”] Producer and Engineer Raphaël Mouterde
Recorded aOctober 9th and b10th 1953, November bd20th and c21st 1953, fMarch 12th 1956, ebefore July 1957. Transfers and Remastering Paul Baily Detailed production credits at the First Hand Records website
Reviewed by Richard Whitehouse
What’s the story?
First Hand Records continues its valuable Early Stereo Recordings series with this volume devoted to Sibelius, mostly featuring performances that had little wider availability on their initial release and which have seldom, if at all, been reissued in their original stereo format.
What are the recordings like?
First issued on two Livingston Audiosphere binaural tapes, Vittorio Gui’s Sibelius confirms this conductor’s wide-ranging sympathies as to repertoire. Finlandia is accorded a forthright and impulsive reading which is brooding and even ominous in its earlier stages, then with its hymnic melody elegantly while unaffectedly rendered. Valse triste feels arguably even more persuasive as Gui secures playing of poise and finesse from the strings of Maggio Musicale Fiorentino, building up to a culmination of sustained intensity prior to its elegiac conclusion.
George Weldon’s Finlandia affords instructive comparison. First issued on an EMI Columbia stereosonic tape, it exudes no mean spontaneity and panache with the Philharmonia sounding as idiomatic as on the Sibelius recordings made with Herbert von Karajan during this period.
Most valuable are those remaining items. What was initially issued as an A-V Tape Libraries binaural tape is a fascinating collection, not least for this first studio recording of the cantata The Origin of Fire which is overall the best of Sibelius’s Kalevala-derived choral works, and combatively rendered here by Sulo Saarits with the Helsinki University Chorus – which latter contributes respectively stirring then evocative accounts of the indelible Finlandia Hymn and delectable Song of My Heart under Martti Turunen. The Cincinnati SymphonyOrchestra comes into its own with Pohjola’s Daughter, the symphonic fantasia that straddles its composer’s nationalist and more classical phases – duly endowed with often irresistible momentum by Thor Johnson (1913-1975), the American conductor who made numerous important recordings at this time.
Surely the highlight, though, is Quatuor Pascal’s reading of Voces intimae. First issued as a Concert Hall Society stereophonic tape, this was only the work’s fourth recording (after those (two) by the Budapest and Griller quartets) and demonstrates acute appreciation of Sibelius’s idiom as shared by few French musicians at this time. From the powerfully wrought opening Allegro with its pulsing Vivace continuation, via the inwardly eloquent Adagio then trenchant Allegretto, to the impetuous final Allegro – this is an interpretation to rank with the very best.
Does it all work?
Yes it does, remembering these recordings were made in Sibelius’s lifetime (just two months before his death in the case of the String Quartet) and can lay claim to pioneering status. The transfers have been expertly managed, conveying the dynamic range and tonal range of those original masters without unwarranted intervention. Tully Potter pens informative annotations, and Peter Bromley invaluable context, though the timing for Weldon’s Finlandia should read 9’17” rather than 8’31” hence is faster than Gui by mere seconds rather than almost a minute.
Is it recommended?
Indeed it is, and it could well be regarded as the most significant release in this FHR series so far. Coming in the wake of groundbreaking inter-war projects from the Sibelius Society, these issues are a vital chapter in the history of Sibelius recording and an indispensable acquisition.
Listen & Buy
For further information and purchase information visit the First Hand Records website. Additional details on (most of) these recordings can be found on the Discogs website
Yeol Eum Son (piano, below), City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra / Jonathon Heyward (above)
Still Threnody: In Memory of Jean Sibelius (1965) Prokofiev Piano Concerto no.2 in G minor Op.16 (1912-13, rev. 1923) Sibelius Symphony no.5 in E flat major Op.82 (1914-19)
Symphony Hall, Birmingham Thursday 24 October 2024
Reviewed by Richard Whitehouse Pictures (c) Laura Tiesbrummel (Jonathon Heyward), Marco Borggreve (Yeol Eum Son)
American by nationality, and currently music director of the Baltimore Symphony Orchestra, Jonathon Heyward is no stranger to orchestras in the UK and this afternoon’s appearance with the City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra confirmed a rapport that will hopefully continue in future seasons.
His symphonic output may now be well covered by recordings, but performances of William Grant Still remain infrequent such that his Threnody came as a welcome novelty. Dedicated to Sibelius in the anniversary year of his birth, this finds its composer in understandably sombre mood (akin to that of his masterly concertante piece Dismal Swamp from two decades earlier) and, while there is little about its content that recalls the Finnish master, the interplay between elegy and processional is effectively handled through to its subdued yet highly affecting close.
It might not have enjoyed the popularity of its successor, but the CBSO has given memorable accounts of Prokofiev’s Second Piano Concerto over the decades and the present reading with Yeol Eum Son (above) was as good as it gets in a piece that does not make things easy technically or interpretatively. Starting reticently, the opening movement duly hit its stride in the capricious second theme before the orchestra made way for Son’s electrifying take on a cadenza which encompasses development and reprise; the orchestra’s climactic return being no less visceral.
Wresting coherence out of the unlikely formal design of this work is hardly an easier task but, here again, there was no doubting Son’s insight as she fairly tore through its Scherzo without loss of clarity; she and Heyward then drawing abrasive irony out of an intermezzo which can easily descend into caricature. Nor was there any lack of focus with a Finale whose headlong outer sections frame one of folk-tinged pathos – afforded a cumulative intensity only outdone by the propulsive closing stage where soloist, orchestra and conductor were thrillingly as one.
If the reading of Sibelius’s Fifth Symphony after the interval did not quite maintain this level of excellence, it was no also-ran as a performance. Heyward might have observed the Tempo molto moderato of its initial movement more literally, as his swift underlying pace made for too precipitate a climax into its scherzo-like second half. The accelerating transition between them was adeptly managed, but there was little room left for manoeuvre during the approach to a coda where not even the CBSO’s unfazed commitment could gain the necessary velocity.
Neither did the second movement lack forward motion, though here Heyward found a viable balance between the andante and allegretto elements – its (mostly) ingratiating poise abetted by felicitous playing from CBSO woodwind. Setting off impulsively, the finale rather lacked eloquence in its ‘swan theme’ but the resourceful evolution of its material was never in doubt. Other performances have conveyed greater emotional breadth thereafter yet, as those indelible six closing chords unfolded, there could be no doubting their decisiveness as parting gestures. Overall, then, this was impressive music-making with Heyward evidently a conductor on a mission. Next Wednesday brings a programme of Spanish evergreens conducted by Kazuki Yamada, with Miloš Karadaglić taking centre-stage in a certain guitar concerto by Rodrigo.
Katie Tretheway (soprano), CBSO Chorus, University of Birmingham Voices, City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra / Ludovic Morlot
John Luther Adams Vespers of the Blessed Earth (2021) [CBSO co-commission: UK premiere] Sibelius Symphony no.2 in D major Op.43 (1901-02)
Symphony Hall, Birmingham Thursday 9 May 2024
Reviewed by Richard Whitehouse
Almost eight years ago, the City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra and Ludovic Morlot gave the UK premiere of John Luther Adams’ Become Ocean. Tonight they, with the CBSO Chorus and University of Birmingham Voices, gave that of his most recent large-scale work.
It may have been obliquely inspired by Monteverdi, but Vespers of the Blessed Earth is very much a humanist response to those ecological challenges of the present and, to this end, its texts have a concreteness and functionality which is wholly at the service of the music. Thus A Brief Descent into Deep Time sets words as depict the (reverse) geological evolution of the Grand Canyon, its emotional matter-of-factness in contrast to A Weeping of Doves with its unaccompanied setting of the call of the Papuan fruit dove in what is one of Adams’ most ravishing inspirations. Hardly less affecting is Night-Shining Clouds – an interlude, in the form of a chaconne, for strings that follows what the composer calls a ‘sub-harmonic’ series with its slowly spiralling descent to the depths for a graphic evocation of cloudly pollutants.
The fourth and climactic section, Litanies of the Sixth Extinction divides the choruses into four parts which between them chant the names of species in the process of or likely to face extinction – closing ominously with Homo Sapiens. It was here that an antiphonal placing of strings and percussion, along with choirs of woodwind and brass placed along either side of the upper circle, came into its own but, typically for Adams, the effect was one of cumulative if not intensifying emotion. Aria of the Ghost Bird followed with its transcribed rendering of the call from the now-extinct Kaua’i O’ō, tonight taken by Katie Tretheway (above) in what was a finale of the gentlest eloquence. It duly remained for offstage flute and chimes, here placed up in the grand tier, to see this inconsistent while always absorbing work to its wistful close.
In his thoughtful introductory remarks, Morlot spoke of the appositeness when juxtaposing Adams with Sibelius and the latter’s Second Symphony, which followed the interval, made his point admirably. Once the most popular such piece by Sibelius (and, indeed, of the last century), latter-day performances too often fight shy of its innate rhetoric or overt emotion. Without being disengaged, this account succeeded because of its methodical trajectory, not least a first movement whose restraint was never at the expense of its overall incisiveness.
With its stark contrast between conflict and consolation, the slow movement can easily fall into overkill but not here – Morlot evincing a keen sense of cohesion through to its baleful ending. The scherzo likewise secured keen cohesion from its alternate energy and raptness, then its surging transition into the finale brought an emotional frisson maintained through to an apotheosis whose grandeur never felt self-conscious or overbearing. Whether the triumph expressed is cultural or personal, the underlying essence of its affirmation was not in doubt.
It certainly set the seal on a memorable evening – one that confirmed the undoubted rapport between orchestra and conductor, while bridging the conceptual divide and almost 120 years between these pieces. Hopefully the CBSO and Morlot will be working together again soon.
Simon Desbruslais (trumpet), English Symphony Orchestra / Kenneth Woods
Sibelius Rakastava Op.14 (1893, arr. 1912) Sawyers Concerto for Trumpet, Strings and Timpani (2015) Dvořák Notturno in B major Op.40 (1870, arr. 1883) Fribbins Soliloquies (2012, arr. 2017) Elgar Introduction and Allegro for strings Op.47 (1905)
Hall One, Kings Place, London Sunday 15 April 2024
Reviewed by Richard Whitehouse
Concerts by the English Symphony Orchestra in the London Chamber Music Society’s season are always a worthwhile fixture and this early-evening event, in its mixing established classics with contemporary pieces, demonstrated the stylistic range and sympathies of this ensemble.
A pity that Sibelius’s Rakastava has never been taken up by many British conductors – John Barbirolli and Sir Colin Davis excepted – as this extensive reworking for strings and timpani of an early choral work should be a staple of its repertoire. Kenneth Woods duly brought out the wistful poise of The Lover, and if the stealthiness which underpins The Way of the Lover seemed just a little tentative, the bittersweet pathos that permeates Good evening, Farewell then came through unabated in what is as moving a leave-taking as its composer ever penned.
The music of Philip Sawyers has been a constant feature of the ESO’s programming this past decade, and his Trumpet Concerto more than deserved revival. The outward Classicism of its formal trajectory should not belie the deftness by which Sawyers modifies the sonata design of its opening Allegro, the impetus and reflectiveness of its main themes finding accord prior to a trenchant cadenza with timpani at the fore, or a central Andante that exuded an emotional breadth and fervour in advance of the excellent recording by these artists. Among the leading trumpeters of his generation, Simon Desbruslais – placed high to the rear of the auditorium, to potent effect – was wholly unfazed by its demands; nor those of a final Allegro in which more reflective elements leaven the initial energy, only to be outdone in the virtuosic closing bars.
Next, a welcome hearing for the Notturno that Dvořák salvaged from an early (and reckless) quartet. Its relative swiftness here recalled its intermediate reworking as an intermezzo in the second of his string quintets, so emphasizing its appealing lilt over any more ethereal quality.
Desbrulais (above) returned after a brief hiatus for Soliloquies by Peter Fribbins. A composer as adept on a symphonic as on a miniature scale, these brief if affecting pieces draw on three earlier songs – the recasting of whose vocal line encourages the soloist to an eloquence that, after the relative restraint of the initial Adagio and central Tranquillo, comes to the fore in a final Adagio where evocation takes on an almost cinematic aura. With impressive concertos for piano and violin to his credit, Fribbins ought to consider a full-length work for trumpet.
Elgar’s Introduction and Allegro has not unexpectedly been key to the ESO’s repertoire since its founding some 45 years ago, and this performance did not disappoint. Most admirable was the variety and depth of string tone that Woods (a one-time professional cellist) secured from only 19 players, so ensuring a vitality and impact in the more animated sections together with the requisite delicacy in those passages where the composer’s ruminative mood is uppermost. Both aspects were brought into thrilling accord at the close of the powerfully projected coda.
Beforehand, Woods spoke of the changing nature of commissions and the current difficulties in securing the necessary funding. This season has not been easy for the ESO though, on the basis of this programme, these players are commendably taking it all in their collective stride.
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