It was about three years ago that I welcomed a Phoenix
Edition disc of the Schnittke piano concertos in which Maria
Lettberg was the excellent secondo to Ewa Kupiec’s primo in
the Double Concerto. Since then her cycle of the Scriabin sonatas
has been celebrated here by Dominy
Clements. Her recorded repertoire choices have been intelligently
informed by her grasp of the diversity of piano repertoire to
which other celebrity pianists often seem deaf.
The Finnish composer Erkki Melartin was no revolutionary as
we can hear. His life was loosely enclosed by that of Sibelius.
While to the best of my knowledge he never wrote anything as
original or as strikingly imaginative as Luonnotar or
Pohjola's Daughter he did produce some superbly craftsmanlike
piano music and six pleasing and sometimes dramatic symphonies.
The latter were recorded by Ondine and reviewed here by Lance
Nixon. On the other hand Melartin's piano solos often outstrip
the rather unspecial piano solos profusely produced by Sibelius.
The Op. 7 1900 piano pieces include some lissom romantic miniatures.
These have a sense of poetry and emotional turmoil without all
that stormy. The Legend I and II (1900) and The Melancholy
Garden (opp. 7 and 52) gently ripple, suavely sidle and
slyly smile always in liquefaction. There is something of the
metropolitan boulevardier life in The Melancholy Garden
(1908) but things become much more heady in the third movement
of that sequence. Other pieces, including the fourth, chime
quietly in rippling speed. The last of the Op. 52 set is subtly
shaded and harmonised has a potent romantic charge. The first,
at 1:40, lays hold of a morbidly attractive bass ostinato. The
effect is colouristic rather than subtly impressionistic - it's
like a step towards Chopin through Godowsky.
The Four Lyric Pieces op. 59 (1909) are sensitive stems
and blossoms - slender yet prone to grand statements on occasion.
They can be Rachmaninovian but are predominantly superb lyrical
effusions. The Mysterious Forest of 1923 comprises six
pieces in a much more advanced idiom. Here harmonic experimentation,
carefully placed dissonance and Pierrot grotesquerie are fully
engaged. From the next year come the Six Piano Pieces which
stand somewhere between the Rachmaninov Etudes-Tableaux and
the darker Bax piano solos like Winter Waters. Melartin
breaks free for the effervescence of the third of the op. 123
pieces which takes us back to the early Macdowell-inflected
pictorial floral pieces. It's a brief moment of delicious recidivism.
The second disc launches with the 24 Preludes - a rite of passage
for so many composers. These date from 1913-20 and are in part
redolent of his countryman Selim Palmgren's own sequence. This
is a substantial and ferally imaginative and romantic set. Some
of the music is redolent of Rachmaninov but also of Scriabin,
Ravel, Chopin and late experimental Liszt (18). It is instinct
with halting starlight, with the longing lyricism I associate
with Moeran and Godowsky's brilliance of mood painting. Each
of them has a title.
There are six short pieces in the sequence Noli me tangere.
These are fascinating and masterful in their fragile and poised
traversal of blended sorrow and beauty. The harmony ranges adventurously.
The disc ends with the fabled Fantasia apocaliptica,
Melartin's piano sonata lost for many years, found in the 1970s
and first recorded in 1984. It has a grand romantic sweep and
the aristocratic mien of Rachmaninov and the open lyricism of
Grieg. This is however shot through with darkness. In her liner
notes Dr Ture Ranta-Meyer refers to it as 'very expressive and
expressionistic'. I agree. It's a fascinating work that should
appeal strongly. Some of it is dark indeed. It is played with
grand gestures and élan. This is music in a constant state of
glorious climactic eruption which while exciting might be something
of a weakness. It is however quite glorious.
Melartin is no mere pictorialist or water-colourists - no purveyor
of toothsome bonbons - not that there's anything wrong with
such. Here instead is a composer whose piano music holds both
surprises and the attention with a considerable grip.
In the interpretative hands of Maria Lettberg this music reaches
its toweringly imaginative potential. Romantic flair immersed
in fantasy and heroic spirit..
Rob Barnett
Lettberg
on Melartin.
Lettberg’s
website
Track List
Erkki Melartin (1875-1937)
The Solo Piano Works
CD 1
1 ”Ro, ro, fiskarmor” / Leise, Fischmutter, leise 1‘27
2 Suvi-illan vieno tuuli / Der Wind am lauen Sommerabend 1‘24
3 Keinutan kehtoa, laulatan lasta / Ich schaukele sacht den
Wiegenkorb 1’31
4 Jeg synes, at verden skinner / Ich fühle, dass die Welt mir
scheint 1’00
5 Ej har jag hem och ej har jag härd / Ich habe kein Heim,
und ich hab’ keinen Herd 1’53
6 Jag vill stilla tacka dig i den stilla / Ich möchte still
Dir danken in dieser stillen 0’48
7 Legend II, Op 12 / Die Legende II, Op 12 / The Legend II,
Op 12 5’06
Surullinen puutarha , Op 52 / Der traurige Garten, Op 52
The Melancholy Garden, Op 52
8 1 Me kaksi / Wir zwei / We Two 4’59
9 2 Lemmentie / Liebesgasse / Love Alley 2’43
10 3 Kerjäläislapsen kehtolaulu / Wiegenlied eines
Bettlerkindes
The Beggar Child’s Lullaby 2’44
11 4 Sade / Regen / Rain 3’59
12 5 Yksinäisyys / Einsamkeit / Solitude 5’10
Lyyrisiä pianokappaleita, Op 59 / Lyrisches, Op 59 / Lyric
Pieces for Piano, Op 59
13 1 Barcarole 2’37
14 2 Romance 2‘38
15 3 Berceuse 2’01
16 4 Intermezzo 1’49
17 5 Impromptu 2’53
Den hemlighetsfulla skogen , Op 118, Sex pianostycken
Der geheimnisvolle Wald, Op 118, Sechs Klavierstücke
The Mysterious Forest, Op 118, Six Pieces for Piano
18 1 Höstbild / Herbstbild / Autumn Image 1’37
19 2 Den hemlighetsfulla skogen / Der geheimnisvolle Wald /
The Mysterious Forest 1’10
20 3 Häxan / Die Hexe / The Witch 0’41
21 4 Trollruna / Beschwörung / The Spell 1’24
22 5 Irrblossen / Irrlichten / Will o’ the wisp 0’57
23 6 Trolldans / Trolltanz / Troll’s Dance 1’30
Sex pianostycken , Op 123 / Sechs Klavierstücke, Op 123
Six Pieces for Piano, Op 123
24 1 Aftonro / Abendruhe / Evening Peace 3’13
25 2 Marcia funebre 3’03
26 3 Idyll / Die Idylle / The Idyll 1’36
27 4 Procession – Der Festzug – Procession 2’29
CD 2
24 Preludier Op 85 / 24 Präludien Op 85 / 24 Preludes Op
85
1 Grekisk Offerhandling / Griechische Opferhandlung Old Grecian
Ceremony 2’02
2 Capriccio 1’03
3 Studie 1’10
4 Méditation 1’19
5 Körsbärsblom i Japan / Japanische Kirschblüte / Cherry
Blossoms in Japan 2’24
6 Afton i Venedig / Abend in Venedig / Evening in Venice 2’12
7 Speldosan / Die Spieluhr / The Musical Box 1’21
8 Tung Afton / Schwerer Abend / Evening before the Storm 1’19
9 Lugn Afton / Stiller Abend / Quiet Evening 1’15
10 Vinterväg / Winterweg / Winter-Road 2’27
11 Canon 1’10
12 Folkvisa / Volkslied / Folk-Song 1’14
13 Scherzino 1’33
14 Höstnatt / Herbstnacht / Autumn-Night 1’42
15 Romans / Romanze / Romance 2’49
16 Ballatella 1’16
17 VÅrmorgon / Frühlingsmorgen / Spring-Morning 1’09
18 Robustamente 2’06
3 Intermezzo 1’25
20 Tempo di Mazurka 0’55
21 Aning / Vorahnung / Presentiment 1’21
22 Beslutet / Entschluss / Decision 0’52
23 Löftet / Versprechen / Promise 1’18
24 Energico 1’37
Noli me tangere, Op 87
Stämningsbilder / Stimmungsbilder / Impressions
25 1 Snöstämning i skymningen / Dämmerung in Schnee
Twilight in the Snow 1’49
26 2 Helgdagsmorgon / Feiertagmorgen / A Holiday Morning 1’54
27 3 Aning / Vorahnung / Presentiment 2’07
28 4 Dödsstund / Todesstunde / The Hour of Death 2’29
29 5 Höstvind / Herbstwind / Autumnal Wind 1’47
30 Legend I, Op 6 / Die Legende I, Op 6 / The Legend I, Op 6
3’34
31 Sonata I Op 111 (Fantasia apocaliptica per il pianoforte)
15’56
Maria Lettberg (piano) 
