A good recording of a very fine work
G.D. | Norway | 03/20/2009
(4 out of 5 stars)
"Madetoja's symphonies have fared rather well on record, and it isn't undeserved. Stylistically, the work is "anti-Sibelius" - in the sense that the composer was one of those attempting to distance himself from the shadow of the older composers and ended up sounding at least superficially rather like him. The closest comparison is, I think, the music of Rangström and Alfvén - and maybe even more obviously composers like Roussel and Magnard - and in terms of quality Madetoja's music also belongs to that group; it is very well-crafted and rather inventive, if not ultimately terribly individual.
The third symphony, dating from the 1920s is atmospheric and quite memorable, full of interesting, fully developed ideas. The couplings are the slightly more forward-looking ballet music from Okon Fuoko and the memorable and strikingly atmospheric suite from his opera "The Ostrobothnians" (for which an eminently recommendable complete recording under Saraste also exists).
Saraste is, of course, a world-class conductor, and he draws fine, taut and rhythmically incisive performance from the Finnish Radio Symphony Orchestra. The recorded sound is good, if not quite vividly transparent. Recommended."