Search - Kajanus, Lso :: Conducts Sibelius

Music from the Norse

j z | 12/29/2005

(5 out of 5 stars)

"Here is a box set (three discs) of significant historical value. Robert Kajanus, initiator of the first professional orchestra in Helsinki--later known as the Helsinki Philharmonic--and acclaimed champion of Sibelius, leads meritorious accounts. In spite of occasional rotten sound (the brass and orchestral tuttis are plagued by distortion in the Symphony No.2), these recordings show to great effect how vital these pioneering sessions were to become in respect to the works produced herein. Ultimately, the First Symphony gets the finest rendition i have heard. The Second has a lot of propulsive drive (in a Toscaninian way) with taut bass lines and a Finale (Allegro moderato) that is still unsurpassed : The interpretation is swift and tense, sometimes much in the vein of the proverbial Barbirolli/NewYork reading of 1940. Many of those virtues are to be found in the Third Symphony, where Kajanus seems to infuse the musicians an especial momentum of awe-inspiring dignity--as for the First and Second, there is eloquence in this interpretation. I personally think the Fifth received better renditions than the present one, two relevant examples being Segerstam (Ondine) and Gibson/LSO (Decca), but the Kajanus is nonetheless a good version (there's a well-done Finale, in particular). The tone poems are truly great, save perhaps for a negligible--and incomplete--Karelia Suite (although nicely played). Tapiola never sounded that good (musically), with a fierce storm that emphasizes the immensity of the lone forest. I'd say it easily rivals Koussevitzky or Beecham, and is perhaps a notch or two superior for its unraveling intensity and authentic nordicity. Pohjola's Daughter and Belshazzar's Feast arguably received their finest orchestral treatment ever. Pohjola, in particular, has some impressive atmospheric profundities that make these old legends revive. My ratings are based exclusively on performance, not sound--that would have allowed a meager one or two stars ranking (it would have been quite unfair, when the musical content is so valuable, for here are important pioneering accounts that deserve to be heard)./|||/"

The epic seed!

Hiram Gomez Pardo | Valencia, Venezuela | 05/31/2007

(5 out of 5 stars)

"
Kajanus was perhaps, the herald and most enthusiast director of Jean Sibelius. In contrast with this new generation of directors, Kajanus, as well as Beecham, Koussevitzki, Toscanini, Collins and Fúrtwangler - in lesser degree - made about Sibelius an epic approach rather than a simple nationalistic composer. They employed the score to make clear some aspects of this new composer who, having been born in 1865, did not fall into the traditional schemes of his historical moment. As a matter of fact Carl Nielsen walked by similar paths. They decided not to follow the Impressionism, the audacious dissonances of Bartok or Stravisnky and neither the Neo classicism of Respighi.



That vision nourished and built literally a whole generation of directors before the WW2, where the score, was a powerful inspiration's motive to illuminate the fervent desire of emancipation and freedom in this country, besieged in the WW2.



After the WW2, Sibelius music has been performed without taking into account these intrinsic values, and the result may be seen from the first bars. A great number of versions are simply insipid, anodyne sufferings of an evident lack of determination, conviction and personality. The obvious result for these emerging generation of listeners has been a true distortion around Sibelius artistic expression.



That is the main reason to acquire this important set, because actually you will hardly feel such enraptured experience.

"