I am not at all sure
though about Sato's Sibelius. The Karelia
Overture (a rare piece albeit recalling
episodes from the suite) was much more
fluently handled by Alexander Gibson
on an EMI or CFP LP. Sato is flatteringly
recorded but gallingly the whole thing
lumbers along on arthritic joints. The
Wood-Nymph is better, taking
a while to warm up but with some classic
mature Sibelian touches as at 3.34 in
the whistling flutes and at 6.12 with
the very original Tapiola-like
helter-skelter brass. It is a flawed
piece without the coherence of vision
found in Nightride and Sunrise,
or Oceanides, let alone Pohjola's
Daughter or Tapiola. Nevertheless
there is much in it to please Sibelians
and others including the whispered ululating
yelps of the strings at 10.43 - an imaginative
coup. The climactic stuttered-out statement
(19.30 onwards) by strings and brass
has an heroically indomitable character
unlike anything else in Sibelius. Overall
this is rather square-jawed and take-it-or-leave-it
but it is impressive.
Spring Song is
more akin to the First Symphony with
its broader and dark canvas, vexed dramatics
and Mussorgskian bells (7.20). Sato's
propensity for the steady pulse works
superbly in the King Christian II
music especially in the Nocturne.
While a little more playfulness would
have been welcome in the Musette
the deliberate approach becomes
more of a liability in the Serenade
which lacks fluency. Much the same
can be said of the Ballade - more
rhythmic lift needed. The Dryad is
the latest piece here and is the most
sphinx-like - the closest approach to
the coldly remote planet that is the
Fourth Symphony; a work of which it
sometimes seems to be an epitome. The
Dance Intermezzo is more ingratiating
with its steely harp glint and silvery
tambourine line. It is like a cheerier
version of Valse Triste. Pan
and Echo is a much less enigmatic
piece than Nielsen's of about the same
vintage. It is almost sentimentally
endearing and finds its dancing shoes
from 2.38 onwards. It occasionally swaps
delicacy for a galumphingly Iberian
flavour.
Nice to see a themed
Sibelius album; not to mention one that
at the same time runs to almost 80 minutes.
The theme is the pastoral though not
necessarily lighter Sibelius. This is
predominantly the miniaturist poet not
the symphonist. It is in some measure
comparable with the Jussi Jalas theatre
music collection (Decca) or the EMI Classics
Gemini set of Charles Groves RLPO collection.
Rob Barnett
Kuopio Symphony Orchestra/Shuntaro Sato 