This grab-bag assortment of pieces does a little bit of necessary house-cleaning as BIS prepares to finish its complete Sibelius edition. It appears that Neeme Järvi’s recordings of some of these works will now be replaced by these newer ones from Lahti, and that’s mostly to the good, as Osmo Vänskä’s interpretations generally have been more interesting. One noteworthy exception is the Lemminkäinen Suite, but otherwise the newer recordings tend to be superior. This is particularly true in the present case of the Overture and Ballet Scene, Sibelius’ very first orchestral works (originally planned as part of a symphony). The latter is a particularly striking work, one of those ominous, minor-key, “dance of death”-type pieces very imaginatively scored (some fascinating writing for woodwinds and percussion). It sounds like an early version of the scherzo from Mahler’s Seventh, or the second movement of Rachmaninov’s Symphonic Dances.
The vocal works are all lovely, and also are extremely well done. Of course the outstanding item is Luonnotar, and aside from Vänskä’s alternately atmospheric and powerful conducting, soprano Helena Juntunen really puts an impressive amount of expression behind the words. She also has the necessary range and accuracy of pitch for the difficult vocal part, and her breath control at the big climax is just what Sibelius ordered. Only her quick vibrato, amounting at times almost to a trill, might be off-putting to some, but there’s no question that this is one of the better versions.
Another gem is the last track on the disc, Väino’s Song, a splendid choral work and the last of Sibelius’ important Kalevala settings. The only reason the piece is so seldom heard is because it’s in Finnish, so no one outside of Finland wants to learn it; but the music recognizably comes from the world of the Sixth Symphony, and the use of harmony is magical. It’s also never sounded better.
All of the shorter pieces, including two versions of the lovely Impromptu for orchestra and women’s choir, come off equally well, and it’s nice to have some of Sibelius’ orchestrations of his own songs tossed into the pot. Kullervo’s Lament, adapted for bass Kim Borg from the end of the third movement of the Kullervo Symphony, was the composer’s last project, and it’s very well sung here by Jyrki Korhonen (as are baritone Tommi Hakala’s accounts of Serenade and I Natten). So if you don’t mind such a heterogeneous collection of bits–the album title presumably refers to Luonnotar, but otherwise has nothing to do with anything–then I can recommend this disc without hesitation. They are, after all, splendid bits, marvelously performed and beautifully recorded. [3/31/2006]
