Jean SIBELIUS (1865-1957)
Everyman, Op.83 (1916) [49.18]
Two Serious Melodies, Op.77 [10.17]
In memoriam, Op.59 (1910) [13.15]
Pia Pajala (soprano); Tuomas Katajala (tenor); Nicholas Söderlund (bass);
Cathedralis Aboensis Choir
Mikaela Palmu (violin)
Turku Philharmonic Orchestra/Leif Segerstam
rec. Turku Concert Hall, Finland, 20-24 January and 3-7 February 2014
NAXOS 8.573340 [72.50]
The highly recommendable Segerstam survey of the complete
incidental music by Sibelius here reaches Volume Four with a recording of
probably the composer’s least-known score in this field. Everyman, based
on a Finnish translation of an adaptation of the mediaeval mystery play by
Hugo von Hoffmansthal, is rarely heard today. There is only one alternative
recording of any of the music in the catalogues, included in the complete
conspectus of Sibelius’s music on BIS (review).
The booklet note here by Dominic Wells speculates that the reason for this
neglect lies in Sibelius’s failure to produce an orchestral suite from
the complete score, as he did for so much of his other incidental music. I
am sure that this is correct, as the substantial score is otherwise one of
his most atmospheric works. Mind you, it is oddly proportioned; while the
first half of the play includes only one item (a dance song) of any length,
the second half comprises five major pieces featuring a Largo movement of
nearly a quarter of an hour in duration [track 11]. Much of the music was
also composed as an accompaniment to spoken dialogue, which had to adhere
strictly to the printed notes. In other words, it was a melodrama (in the
strict sense) where, as Dominic Wells puts it, “the music should be
synchronised with the words and action, down to the last second”. Under
the circumstances it would have been welcome if this new recording had provided
actors to speak the dialogue at the appropriate points, so that the composer’s
intentions could be more readily perceived. Neither this or the earlier BIS
recording do so; and here we are given an extensive synopsis of the action
as well as complete texts and translations of the substantial vocal movements,
so to a degree listeners can supply the dramatic framework for themselves.
I have remarked in my reviews of the earlier volumes in this Naxos series
that Leif Segerstam generally takes the music more slowly than in the earlier
BIS survey, and the same is true here. The expansive Largo movement to which
I referred in the previous paragraph takes over three minutes longer under
Segerstam than it did in the performance conducted by Osmo Vänskä, as does
the inexorably moving later movement [track 15] marked Largo e mesto. Some
critics of Segerstam’s earlier releases have complained about the conductor’s
slow speeds, but I have always found them to be well-motivated and often revelatory,
as well as showing a commendable willingness to allow Sibelius’s music
to speak for itself dramatically without being treated as purely concert music.
To a certain extent the listener’s reactions will depend on their willingness
to react to the music as a theatrical experience, and at the very least Segerstam’s
approach is valuable in providing an alternative interpretation of music that
is otherwise unavailable. The Largo, for example was written to underpin the
dialogue between Everyman and Good Works, and would inevitably have needed
to reflect the delivery of the actors. Unfortunately I have not been able
to find a copy of the score which might have made this clearer.
There is considerably more vocal material here than in the earlier incidental
music included in the Naxos survey, including a number of choral sections
which are delivered here with passion by the choir. Pia Pajala is familiar
from her earlier appearances in the series, and is as excellent as before
although she has relatively little to sing. Here she is joined by newcomers
Tuomas Katajala and Nicholas Söderlund, both equally good – the latter
especially heartfelt in his unaccompanied duets with the soprano. The second
section of the score, almost totally orchestral, is impressively gripping;
Robert Layton in his Gramophone review of the Vänskä performance described
it correctly as “very powerful” and commented that the Largo was
“among the most searching music Sibelius ever wrote for the theatre.”
The final sections with their tolling bells look forward to the music of Arvo
Pärt.
The fill-ups to Everyman are also rarities, although here there are more alternatives
in the catalogue although not so many in the case of In memoriam. The Two
serious melodies, not originally written as a unit, exist in alternative versions
for cello and for violin; the catalogue contains approximately equal numbers
of both. They are very beautiful meditations, and are superbly played here
with quiet intensity by Mikaela Palmu. The funeral march In memoriam, with
its uncanny echoes of Mahler – not so much the Fifth Symphony, as suggested
by Dominic Wells, but more of Revelge from the Knaben Wunderhorn songs –
is a real discovery which does not deserve its rarity status. It is not altogether
surprising to learn that it was considered appropriate for the composer’s
own funeral in 1957. It makes a real impression here at Segerstam’s
measured pace, and the orchestra plays with passion — the oboe solo
at 8.08 is positively heartbreaking.
The recording quality is excellent and well-balanced, a good match for the
twenty-year-old BIS predecessor of Everyman. This is music that should never
be allowed to lie unperformed, and those who wish to make its acquaintance
should not hesitate. Those who already have the BIS recording of Everyman
may not wish to duplicate it — Vänkä’s quicker speeds mean that
the single-disc issue can also accommodate the complete music for Belshazzar’s
Feast — but newcomers to the score should be tempted by the Naxos price.
Ardent Sibelians will enjoy making the acquaintance of an alternative interpretation,
too.
Paul Corfield Godfrey
Previous review:
Leslie Wright
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