Search - Stenhammer, Salonen :: Serenade / Midwinter / Chitra

Should be in the international repertoire.

J Scott Morrison | Middlebury VT, USA | 08/15/1999

(5 out of 5 stars)

"The Serenade is Stenhammar's orchestra masterpiece. It is lyrical, exhilarating, well-crafted, moderately Sibelian in language. It certainly deserves to be in the international repertoire as much as any of the Sibelius symphonies. There is little to choose between this performance and that of Järvi on BIS."

Another Nordic Master

Grady Harp | Los Angeles, CA United States | 12/02/2005

(5 out of 5 stars)

"Wilhelm Stenhammer (1871 - 1927) has never enjoyed the same degree of popularity outside his native Sweden as have his fellow Nordic composers. What little we know of his output as a composer (he was also a conductor and pianist) are the numerous songs for voice and piano and those are primarily known because of the recordings by Jussi Björling, Anne Sofie von Otter, and Elisabeth Soderstrom. His piano concerti receive sporadic performances but his orchestral works (which include tone poems, symphonies and works for the theater) are rarely heard. But thanks to the inquisitive mind of yet another Nordic composer/conductor, Esa-Pekka Salonen, these orchestral works are gaining some attention both on recordings such as this very fine one and in performance.



Having never heard Stenhammer's 'Serenade in F major, Op. 31' until a recent performance by Salonen and the LA Phil, the music contained on this recording was 'new'. Whether it is because of the spectacular sound within the Disney Hall that filled the space with the lush orchestration and creative ideas or whether it is just the tip of the iceberg (!), this very lovely recording of three Stenhammer pieces stirs the interest and urge to investigate.



'Serenade' is a substantial piece (40+ minutes) to be so titled. The music is romantic in nature, with some of the same chordal splendors of Sibelius, the gossamer filigree of Mendelssohn, and languid meanderings of Delius. There are obvious moments in the work when Stenhammer's proclivity for song writing is evident: the individual sections of the orchestra assume solo passages while at other times the first 4 desks of the violins, violas, and celli indulge in lovely quartets within the context of their section.



The other two works on this recording are 'Chitra, incidental music Opus 43', with much the programmatic attitude as the Serenade, and 'Midwinter Op. 24' a very brief but nicely moody piece for orchestra and chorus. Salonen is the right conductor for these works. His attention to the myriad details and fragments of ideas, some of which fail to be fully realized, holds the works together. The Swedish RSO and Chorus perform well for him. And, yes, there is something to be said for a conductor from Finland to champion fellow composer/conductors from Scandinavia: the knowledge of the space and tundra is a worthy accompaniment. Grady Harp, December 05



"