Customer Reviews

J. Sibelius: Piano Music Vol. 2

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Though Sibelius may be known as an "intellectual" composer as far as his greatest works are concerned, as a composer for solo piano, he is almost a pure "Romantic". Here is music which is sweetly light, lusciously lyrical, carefree, heartwarming and melancholic and more. Many of the pieces here are less than 2 minutes long, concise wisps of music concentrated in mood and expression. No need to think too much about these works, just listen to them for pleasure. Pianist Havard Gimse proves an extremely musical exponent of this music, perfectly in tune with the moods, the flow and its many colours.

The second volume in Naxos' series of Sibelius piano music played by Håvard Gimse focuses on miniatures, but includes what is possibly his best piano work, Kyllikki. For the most part, these are pretty slight pieces, hardly revealing Sibelius at his best or, in fact, as recognizably the composer that most of us know from his orchestral works. Apart from Kyllikki, I think it would be rather hard, in fact, for anyone coming new to these pieces to recognize the composer.

Overall, there are some nice trinkets here where the poetry and color of, say, his incidental music is present. But for the most part, these scattered miniatures are rather forgettable. Håvard Gimse plays them for all they are worth - sometimes more, it seems. It is unfortunate, then, that his version of Kyllikki sounds a little too mannered. Anyone following the series can safely add this one, I'd say, but if you are not really set on acquiring all of Sibelius mature piano works I would perhaps hesitate a little. Kyllikki is available elsewhere, and apart from that set, this is - despite a few fine smaller pieces - mostly for the specialist.