Overtures from Finland
Oulu Sinfonia/Rumon Gamba
rec. 2022, Madetoja Concert Hall, Oulu Music Centre, Oulu, Finland
Chandos CHSA5336 SACD [71]
Roaming through the works of unusual composers or unusual works by composers whose names are well known can produce a crop of treasures … as well as chaff. One such roaming area (‘jus spatiandi’) is BBC Radio 3’s “Through the Night”. And that is where, amongst much else, I happened upon orchestral music by various Finnish composers. I was already head-over-heels with Madetoja and Klami. Microscopic and even overture length works by these and other composers from Finland held a particular allure. Often these recordings came from the cream of classical music radio stations such as the Finnish YLE network. I confess to having recorded quite a few of these on hard disc DVD recorder and from time to time plucked out the plums onto CDR. Of the two composers I have named, Madetoja had already lodged with me through his Symphony No. 2 (1915) – a work of effortlessly-poised (and, sorry to get slushy) heart-breaking beauty. Uuno Klami well and truly registered with me when, on spec, I bought, at Gramex in Soho Square, the 1970s Finlandia LP FA302. It was a hard slog from there to track down more Klami but things are much better now.
The works on this CD – which has really helpful notes by Sibelius eminence, Daniel Grimley – form a far from bleak Nordic echo of two other Gamba / Chandos CDs. These are Overtures from the British Isles, Volume 1 and Volume 2. I should add that Rumon Gamba is amongst the most attractive of conductors who manages to combine safe hands with brilliance and incandescent imagination. I enjoyed his British film music series, not to mention his Gipps and his Arnold symphonies when he stepped in following the death of Richard Hickox.
The Karelia Overture is not part of the famous Suite. As a work it has had a place in enthusiasts’ affection that can be traced to Sir Alexander Gibson and the then-Scottish National Orchestra’s long-player from 1968 (EMI). The suite is well enough known and the complete theatre music can be heard on an Ondine CD. The Karelia Overture is a jaunty little thing and is heard here in a high-impact and high-power recording. It’s an early nationalist piece and at 5:20 basks in music rather like parts of Kullervo. Truth to tell, it is also raucous on occasions but is full of engaging ideas and treatments.
In his Nummisuutarit (“Cobblers on the Heath”) overture Klami crafts original sounds from the orchestra. Sure, there are a few Sibelian gestures but he can be relied on for sudden enlivening coups de théâtre. These, usually at pianissimo level, surprise the listener. His pizzicato writing has a balalaika edge. He lards these with delighted zesty shrieks and thumps. The overture ends in emulation of a wild fiddler and twice opens the door to that impression. Overall, then: nice imaginative touches sometimes repeated amid cheery and chummy nationalism. Rather like Martinů, his works took on a bright but ultimately underpowered Parisian Gallic sound and lost some of the beguiling glint and glow of his homeland years. That said, there are many Klami works that combine his originality with delight. If you are in the market for more Klami then try his huge cantata Psalmus (Finlandia) or his orchestral works such as Kalevala Suite, Sea Pictures (Chandos CHAN 10427), Cheremissian Fantasy and his ballet Whirls. In the present late overture (1936) with its arresting title, Nummisuutarit (“Cobblers on the Heath”) Klami adopts the manner of a Nordic Rossini in Cenerentola or Gazza Ladra or the much later overtures by Gordon Jacob (The Barber of Seville goes to the Devil) and Eric Fenby’s Rossini on Ilkla Moor.
In some lights the Klami aspect of this disc can be seen as a lively scintilla of a CD from Ondine – one of Finland’s great labels – an all-Klami affair with Sakari Oramo – in his pre-CBSO/BBCSO days – conducting the Finnish Radio Symphony Orchestra in The Adventures of Lemminkainen on the Island of Saari, The Cobblers On The Heath Overture, Karelian Rhapsody, Karelian Market Place and In The Belly Of Vipunen. Ondine went on to record the two numbered symphonies with Tuomas Ollila and the Tampere Philharmonic on ODE 854–2 and ODE 858-2.
Melartin’s Prinsessa Ruusunen is a miniature overture rather like Palmgren’s Cinderella. It’s very romantic, leaning into the example of Sibelius’s Second Symphony. It’s a thing of long lyrical lines. A cello solo gives a more than passable impression of the very soul and sorrowing of Finland. The effect is heightened by some delicately audible harp decoration. The whole plays out in fatigued contentment. If you would like to wend your way further into Melartin’s concert hall music then do look out for his six symphonies.
Madetoja’s Comedy Overture is here given a most appealing spin both as performance and as recording. This forced me to revise my previously held so-so impression of the work (review review). This now emerges a little like Moeran’s First Rhapsody or his tone poem In The Mountain Country. High yearning violins take their glorious toll then give way to rumbustious jollity at 1:12.
Armas Järnefelt is always remembered as the brother-in-law of Sibelius, but he was also a far from negligible composer (review review) and conductor. He too had the “millstone” of a brace of hyper-successful works – the catchy Praeludium and the Berceuse – but there are other works. His Ouverture Lyrique finely spins Finnish nationalism in what, under Gamba’s baton, is a spirited and sometimes dreamy reading.
Mielck – who died very young – was in comparatively eclipsed exile which came to an end with two discs: one from Sterling; the other from Toccata. His Dramatische Ouvertüre (characteristically German title) is the longest piece on this disc and is even more deserving of the name Ouverture Lyrique. Bardic sweeps of the harp and the sort of somewhat updated delicacy-delight that Mendelssohn exemplified in The Midsummer Night’s Dream music. While it does have some rather pummelling pages there are many moments of poetic repose including the horns and woodwind writing at 3:23.
Selim Palmgren is likely to be known for his piano concertos on Finlandia/Warner-Ultima and Alba but he also wrote, in addition to much music for piano solo (Izumi Tateno on EMI and Jouni Soumero on Grand Piano) and chorus, a grand opera Daniel Hjort (Finlandia). Palmgren had no need to let down his guard or trim his sails for the little gem that is the bustling folksy miniature treasure, the Tuhkimo-Sarja (Cinderella) overture; the first number from the eight-movement suite of the same name. Mind you, the only way of hearing the whole suite is through the Finnish Radio recording by the Radio SO and George de Godzinsky (1914-1994).
Kajanus, like the less successful (from the present day perspective) Jarnefelt, was both conductor and composer. He might even have preferred me to list him first as composer. As conductor, his reputation has latched onto his pioneering commercial recordings of many of the Sibelius symphonies for HMV, the Sibelius Society and latterly Naxos. His orchestral output included an Aino Symphony. Gamba’s choice of the Overture Sinfonica from the second half of the 1920s reveals a meaty ten-minute work which adopts a big romantic manner. It can be quite loud and melodramatic in a Lisztian manner (think in terms of Mazeppa). Kajanus shows a gift for the solo violin with romantic oodles of Kreislerian syrup offset by surging romance. Bell sounds decorate the work’s progress rising to vociferous moments and remarkably good stereo separation (7:35).
Heino Kaski’s overture is lushly romantic but he does not indulge in Kajanus’s syrupy slowness. There are some nice, memorable things here, including a long-limbed line and a gorgeous melodic touch evocative of Sibelius 1. In short, if this had come to Beecham’s undistracted attention he would have adopted it as a “lollipop”.
Speaking of lollipops, the disc ends with the Järnefelt Praeludium which boasts well-judged use of soft pizzicato. This is a perky foot-tapper which melds the feel-good attractions of Delius’s Sleigh Ride and Butterworth’s Banks of Green Willow. A good way to end.
Rob Barnett
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Contents
Jean Sibelius (1865-1957)
Karelia Overture, Op.10 (1893)
Uuno Klami (1900–1961)
Nummisuutarit (Cobblers on the Heath) (1936)
Erkki Melartin (1875-1937)
Overture to Prinsessa Ruusunen, Op.22 No.30 (1904)
Leevi Madetoja (1887-1947)
Comedy Overture, Op.53 (1923)
Armas Jarnefelt (1869-1958)
Ouverture lyrique (1890)
Ernst Mielck (1877-1899)
Dramatische Ouvertüre, Op.6 (1898)
Selim Palmgren (1878-1951)
Overture from Tuhkimo-Sarja, Op.21 (1903-08)
Robert Kajanus (1856-1933)
Overture sinfonica (1926)
Heino Kaski (1885–1957)
Prélude, Op.7 No.1 (1908?)
Armas Järnefelt (1869-1958)
Præludium (1900)
