Leevi Madetoja (1887-1947)
Melodia Intima
Complete Works for Strings and Piano
Mika Rännäli (piano)
Anna-Liisa Bezrodny (violin)
Jan-Erik Gustafsson (cello)
rec. 2025, Sibelius Hall of Järvenpää House, Finland
Reviewed as lossless download
Alba ABCD600 [100]
Leevi Madetoja is one of the generation of Finnish composers who laboured in the huge shadow cast by Sibelius. Despite the great man not composing anything (for publication at least) from 1926 onwards, the works of those a little younger, such as Madetoja, Toivo Kuula and Erkki Melartin, have, even to this day, been somewhat overlooked. In Madetoja’s case, the situation was made even more difficult, as he was a pupil of Sibelius. Madetoja is best known for his three symphonies (review ~ review) – a fourth was apparently lost in a Paris railway station – and his opera The Ostrobothnians.
As far as I can tell, only the Lyrical Suite and the Sonatina (review) have been recorded before, and each just once. The Elegy and the Northern Ostrobothnian Folk Songs do exist in other versions, and the former has recordings in its orchestral guise. Consequently, this is an important recording for bringing together his chamber music for the first time.
Seven of the nine works here are for violin and piano, and the majority are relatively slight pieces, intended for the salon rather than the concert hall. I prefer the cello/piano combination and found quite a lot of the music to be a bit ho-hum, though unquestionably pleasant. The exception was the Sonatina, which is head and shoulders the best work on the album, with a quite beautiful slow movement and a breathless moto perpetuo finale.
The Piano Trio, his first published composition, is a substantial piece, at almost half an hour, and the influences of Schumann and Brahms are obvious, though there is a sense of French impressionism occasionally trying to push through. The work was written as a consequence of Sibelius asking Madetoja to show him something more substantial than “songs and a fugue or two”, and was written without any input from the master, who undoubtedly would have suggested some pruning of the padding in each movement. The writing for the piano is rather lumpy at times (and that actually applies across all the works), and the strings definitely get the better melodies. It is very good that the work has received its first recording, and I’m pleased to have heard it, but it is not a memorable piece.
The Lyrical Suite is the other work not for violin and piano, comprising four movements which are, despite the title, not all that lyrical, notably the intense and dramatic third movement – Melancholy – and the final movement Caprice which is another moto perpetuo. The two opening movements do certainly match the title, but in doing so, create an over-extended slow, dreamy start to the work.
There were occasions where the string timbre was a bit wiry, and this applied to both instruments, but in general, I felt the performances did justice to music that is, for the most part, workmanlike rather than inspired. The booklet notes are informative and the sound quality is very good.
You don’t have to have read between the lines to know that I wasn’t bowled over by this music, though it was interesting to hear it, and the Sonatina is certainly a very fine work. Recently I reviewed an album of orchestral works by Mélanie Bonis, concluding that her chamber works were better than her orchestral. I can use the same conclusion here, but reversed: Madetoja’s chamber works lag well behind his fine orchestral music.
David Barker
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Contents
Piano Trio, Op. 1 (1909)
Two Pieces for Violin and Piano, Op. 3 (1909)
Elegy, Op. 4/1 (1909)
Five Pieces for Violin and Piano, Op. 14 (1909-1912)
Northern Ostrobothnian Folk Songs, Op. 18 (1913)
Sonatina, Op. 19 (1913)
Intimate Romances, Op. 38 (1917)
Lyrical Suite for Cello and Piano, Op. 51 (1922)
Melodia Intima (1923)
