Overtures from Finland
Oulu Sinfonia/Rumon Gamba
rec. 2022, Madetoja Concert Hall, Oulu Music Centre, Oulu, Finland
Chandos CHSA5336 SACD [71]
I have an impression, which might be completely wrong, that mixed collections of overtures or short orchestral works are far less common on disc than they once were. To my mind that is a shame, as evidenced by this new, skilfully programmed survey of “Overtures from Finland”. The interest here is the range and variety of the music within a common form and a modest timeframe – only one work breaks the ten minute barrier. Clearly the presence of Sibelius looms over the history of Classical Music in Finland from the late 19th Century on but the fascination for the listener is how little like Sibelius any of the other eight composers represented here sound – so a case of inspiration rather than explicit influence perhaps.
Additionally, there is a very enjoyable range of styles and approaches. Some of the pieces are stand-alone concert works, some are atmospheric preludes and others are drawn from incidental music scores. Each listener’s response to this variety will be different but the range and contrast in styles I enjoyed a lot. Conductor Rumon Gamba has used this formula successfully in the past with two volumes of “Overtures from the British Isles” mixing some familiar names and/or works with the rediscovered. Gamba took up the post as chief conductor of the Oulu Sinfonia in January 2022 so this recording from five months later would appear to be the first fruits of his Chandos contract for the orchestra.
For this new release, Daniel M. Grimley provides an excellent liner note where he discusses that marginalising composers other than Sibelius simply because of the global stature of that composer is to ignore the remarkable range and quality of other music being written in Finland at a similar time. Collectors who have already explored Finnish music that is not Sibelius will be familiar with most of the composers represented here and indeed several of the specific works. The disc is book-ended by the two most familiar works. Sibelius’ Karelia Overture opens the disc. Although not nearly as well known as the Karelia Suite which draws from the same incidental music that Sibelius wrote for a series of Finnish-independence-affirming historical tableaux, the overture shares the same spirit and indeed several of the same musical themes as the suite. With the benefit of twenty-twenty historical hindsight it is remarkable to hear how confidently fully-formed the Sibelian sound was already established by a composer still only in his late twenties. Although not so common in the concert hall this is a work familiar from recordings. This new performance is good but not exceptional. In part this is due to Gamba’s fairly routine performance (try Alexander Gibson SNO recording for EMI not Chandos from 1967 for an altogether earthier version) but also to the orchestra. Chandos have afforded this disc a SA-CD 5.0 multi-channel recording overseen by producer Ingo Petry and engineer Christian Starke. Both Petry and Starke have worked on many of BIS’ superb recordings over the years. Somehow, this new recording although clearly good is not quite at the same level of top-drawer excellence that they have achieved in the past. To my ear this is due to the combination of a slightly small orchestral group caught in quite a large acoustic space.
The liner states that the Oulu Sinfonia has a playing strength of 61 which suggests a string strength of roughly 10.8.6.6.4 which is just a fraction too small for many of these scores with the resulting string sound feeling inflated rather than weighty in the space. Wind solos are attractively played and well caught but the actual string ensemble sound although well-enough played is not at the remarkable level that is now the norm – compare the similarly scaled Swedish Chamber Orchestra recordings on BIS to hear string playing of extraordinary precision. Likewise, the brass playing here while no means anything but good lacks the poise and burnished warmth of the finest ensembles.
Uuno Klami’s Nummisuutarit is one of the concert overtures included on the disc and dating from 1936 is also the latest work presented here. The overture has appeared on a BIS disc of Klami’s work but I had not heard it before. It is a bustling good humoured work in the spirit of a comedy overture with little or no musical nationalism audible. Grimley makes the point that Klami’s studies in Paris resulted in Stravinsky, Roussel and Les Six being more influential. I was reminded in style and spirit of works such as Rawsthorne’s Street Corner or Alwyn’s Derby Day overtures. Certainly it gives the orchestra a good work-out which they acquit well. Along with Klami, Leevi Madejota – a private pupil of Sibelius – are probably the next best-known Finnish composers and certainly the most recorded. Madejota’s orchestral works including his three symphonies have been multiply recorded with his 1903 Comedy Overture often appearing as a filler. Chandos have recorded this before with the Iceland SO under Petri Sakari amongst other versions. Sakari’s performance trumps this new version in terms of interpretation and also execution. Sakari is nearly a full minute slower than Gamba which in a “comedy overture” might be considered a disadvantage but somehow the older performance is both more finessed and more atmospheric.
Armas Järnefelt – latterly Sibelius’ brother-in-law – contributes two works; the early 1892 Ouverture lyrique and his most well-known work, outside of Finland at least, the light-hearted Praeludium which closes the disc. Järnefelt was just twenty three when he wrote the ouverture and as such it is confident and effective. That said it is one of the less original or striking works on this disc and again there is just a nagging sense that the orchestral ensemble lacks the polish to lift this music from the relatively routine to something of greater note. More striking in this sense is Ernst Mielck’s Dramatische Ouvertüre Op.6. Mielck is a name I did not know at all – perhaps not that surprising when you realise he died tragically young at the age of just twenty two from tuberculosis. Although the liner describes a rather Romantic/melodramatic narrative supplied by the composer; “the music [portrays] a battle between a hero’s good and evil spirits, whereby evil ultimately claims victory” the feel of the work seems more explicitly theatrical even operatic in its cast. There is almost a Verdian drama which belies Mielck’s studies in Berlin with Max Bruch. Again I can imagine a more polished performance but certainly the orchestra play with energy and gusto – the mention of a symphony by Mielck from 1897 – pre-dating Sibelius’ first intrigues.
Robert Kajanus was the great Finnish musical-godfather supporting the work of so many composers not just Sibelius. His enduring legacy will be as the founder of what became the Helsinki Philharmonic and through his conducting work the promotion and performance of his compatriot’s music. His achievements as a composer himself are more modest – the liner points out that the Overtura sinfonica offered here dates from the same year [1926] as Sibelius’ Tapiola which only illustrates how wide the creative and stylistic gulf between the questing Sibelius and the traditionalist Kajanus had become. Grimley rather talks up this overture mentioning an opening of “Straussian confidence, surging exuberantly forwards” and “Kajanus’ inventive use of orchestral colour”. By the standards of the mid 1920’s I would say both are overstatements although the work is certainly attractive.
But comparing Kajanus the composer to say Klami or Madejota or Palmgren shows the latter group to be significantly more individual musical voices albeit in a fairly conservative mould. Both Palmgren’s and Melartin’s works included are drawn from Incidental music for plays. Melartin’s Princessa Ruusunen (Sleeping Beauty) is a quite short [5:04] brooding work – it appears on the Ondine recordings of a suite from the incidental music conducted by Leif Segerstam. The Palmgren has a theme inspired – according to the liner – by a troupe of Bulgarian Folk Musicians who visited the composer’s home when he was a child and certainly there is an attractive folk-element to the main themes. Heino Kaski is another composer I had never heard of. He belonged to the same generation as Palmgren and counted Melartin as one of his teachers. The little 3:18 Prélude Op.7 No.1is the most modest work on the disc which sounds exactly what it is – a simple, unaffected orchestration of a piano piece. As such it makes for an attractive contrast to some of the more expansive offerings although perhaps I would not have placed it adjacent to the Järnefelt Praeludium.
This is one of those curious discs that once in a while you receive that is hard to review. While certainly ‘good’ by any measure there is something missing in the execution that leaves me under-engaged but struggling to articulate my ennui. So the result is ‘good’ without being as good as I expected. While facing this sense of dissatisfaction I happened to listen for pleasure for the first time to a recently acquired disc of a famous orchestra playing very different music. But there the X factor revealed itself – a top notch ensemble playing intriguing music with superb virtuosity and engagement recorded in demonstration sound. In contrast this new Chandos disc is ultimately an interesting survey of appealing music that is just a little short on star quality.
Nick Barnard
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Previous review: Rob Barnett (August 2023)
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 Järnefelt (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)
