The major work here is the sequence of four Lemminkainen
Legends. This is music of Nordic vitality and readings as widely
spaced as Hannikainen's (USSRSO - Melodiya, 1950s), Horst Stein's (Suisse
Romande, Decca) and pre-eminently Ormandy's second recording, issued
on EMI LP circa 1979 and later reissued on CD, show how brilliance
and a diamond-cut imagination can make this music.
Colin Davis and his orchestra soften the focus and
blur the jaggedness. There is a relaxation or languor about this reading
that saps the music's inherent energy. The warmth of the Colosseum acoustic
accentuates the effect. There is something quite enervating about the
first poem. In Lemminkainen's Return things improve as they do
in the Swan of Tuonela where magic is in the air though without
the breaking strain tautness and poise of the 1965 Mravinsky Leningrad
PO recording on BMG-Melodiya version. Much the same can be said for
the two independent works. They go satisfyingly but want that galvanic
spark that lifts Horst Stein's 1972 SRO Decca Pohjola into classic
status.
We are now spoilt for choice in Sibelius with even
Kullervo available in multiple versions. In this ruthlessly competitive
field this new disc is not recommendable. A good showcase for The
Bard and Pohjola but Davis and BMG's Lemminkainen is
lacking.
Rob Barnett
Alternatives
Swedish
RSO/Mikko Franck
Lahti
Symphony Orchestra/Osmo Vänskä
Iceland
Symphony Orchestra Petri Sakari. (Naxos)
London SO/Colin Davis