Customer Reviews

Sibelius: Orchestral Songs

5 star:		(3)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

I absolutely agree with the anonymous music lover. I find Häggander's voice exceedingly colorful and beautiful. It is not a belcanto voice, but this is not belcanto music and I absolutely love the slightly smoky sound of her voice, and her musical performance of Luonnotar is outstanding - by far the best I ever heard, from the carefully shaped piano lines to the climax in the middle which she attacks with enormous power.
I listened to this years ago and only bought it recently, wondering whether my memory upgraded the performance. No - this is the absolute reference for me in this piece.
Hynninen's contribution is great too, but since we all seem to agree on this, there is no need to write more.

I had to write this when I saw the other review. It is absolutely beyond me how anyone could listen to MariAnne Häggander and not find her voice beautiful. This is one of my favorite CDs!!!

One of my favourite parts of Sibelius' output as a composer is his orchestral songs. They don't get the exposure of his symphonies or tone poems, but the musical value is certainly just as high. This is one of the few CD's which contain these songs, and as such it is a must-have for any true Sibelius fan.
Sibelius mainly wrote songs to the poems of nordic poets, Stagnelius, Runeberg etc. and these songs are in Swedish, except for two in Finnish. Stylistically we are talking late-romantic - but all in Sibelius' own voice.
The first six songs are for baritone and orchestra, and here the soloist is the amazing Jorma Hynninen. He has a terrific voice and sings with both intensity and emotion; from the dark and introspective "Kom nü hit, död" to the melodic "Demanten på Marssnon", his performance is deeply commited.
The six songs which follow for soprano and orchestra are a bit disappointing compared to the amazing opening tracks. Mostly due to the soprano Mari Ann Häggander. Simply put, she doesn't really have the most beautiful of voices, I think. There is a certain power and determination to her singing which fits the dynamics of Sibelius' orchestral settings, but she lacks the delicacy of tone to handle the lyrical quality of the vocal line. I suppose it is a matter of taste, and her performance is certainly not "bad" by any means, but for me it could have been better - thus only four stars.
As far as the conducting and the orchestra is concerned: While it is clear that Jorma Panula is no Paavo Berglund I really like the orchestral playing here - the Gotenburg S.O. is terrific and the entire performance is well balanced and dedicated. The sound quality is very good for a near 20 year old recording (BIS's early discs have been known to sound kind of weird) although the soloists are perhaps a bit too closely miked, most noticeably in "Luonnotar", (of which, I might add, there are far better recordings, both as far as the soloist, the conductor and the orchestra is concerned.)

Summing up: Despite some reservations regarding the female soloist, I cannot recommend this CD enough. I have not come across any other CD which features such a selection of Sibelius' best orchestral songs, and these are truly fantastic compositions! Get it, as fast as you can. It won't be availible forever!

To most Sibelians, the Finnish composer's vocal music remains an unknown world. And what a world! The best of the orchestral songs on this compilation, particularly the amazing, closing "Luonnotar," offer hints of where his art might have moved, had Sibelius kept producing music beyond his last orchestral works of the mid 1920s. As it happens, the orchestration of another of the songs, a striking version (sung in Swedish) of Shakespeare's "Come Away Death," dates from the last months of the composer's life in 1957 -- making it one of a tiny handful of revisions from his pen dating to his final, silent, 30 years.
Both singers, baritone Jorma Hynninen and soprano Mari Anne Haggander, have a perfect idiomatic grasp of the music and the voices to handle its furthest demands. The conductor and the orchestra rise to the occasion and so does the 24-year-old digital sound.