3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Good From Start to Finnish, December 14, 2010
This review is from: Finnish Orchestral Favorites (Audio CD)
If you are like me in having very little by composers from Finland other than Jean Sibelius, FINNISH ORCHESTRAL FAVOURITES is a good sampler of works by several composers from the 19th and 20th centuries. Most of the pieces on the disc favor the Romantic era, and the booklet refers to these as "nationalist" since they tend to reflect aspects of Finnish history and culture. However, there are several compositions (perhaps one third of the CD) that are more modernist and more reflective of international musical styles and subjects. Sibelius is surely by far the most famous of the composers on this disc, although only his Finlandia (8:16 in length) and Valse triste (4:36) are performed. There is also a good variety of moods represented here, ranging from elegiac pieces to celebratory ones such as marches and waltzes. Overall, the music on the disc is quite compelling and interesting.
The Turku Philharmonic Orchestra and Finnish Chamber Orchestra (the latter performs only one short composition) both sound very proficient, probably helped by the fact that as Finnish ensembles they no doubt have performed this music many times. The sound quality is very good too, with a warm and natural ambience to the 1995-96 digital recordings. The helpful booklet has 6 pages on the music and performers, rendered rather brief by being divided equally into English, German, and French. Playing time is a generous 67 minutes. FINNISH ORCHESTRAL FAVOURITES is another of the wonderful series from Naxos of "classical" favorites from various countries, so if you're interested in obtaining others as well, several are linked on this page.
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