Listening to Christmas
Songs in the beginning of May at first
felt a bit weird, but after some time
I forgot that we were so far from the
festive season and was wholly engrossed
in the songs and the singing. And let
me start with the singing, since Lilli
Paasikivi has a gorgeous voice which
she uses with the utmost musicality.
It is extremely beautiful, so far no
signs of wear, she sings long legato
phrases with fine shadings and she also
has considerable power and dramatic
temperament when needed. She is a true
mezzo with great warmth and closer to
being a contralto than a soprano, while
most mezzos these days tend to be more
sopranoish. Having made her debut at
the Finnish National Opera as recently
as 1998 she is still fairly in the beginning
of her career, but she already belongs
to the best present day mezzos in what
is already a crowded field. Whether
you are interested in Christmas songs
or not – especially when sung in Finnish
– you should give this disc a try –
and not only for the singing.
The repertoire is probably
unknown to most non-Finnish listeners,
with the exception of the 15th
century German Christmas song Es
ist ein Ros entsprungen (track 14),
which also is the only song here by
a non-Finnish composer. Everything is
sung in Finnish, but it should be noted
that several of the original texts are
Swedish, most of them by Topelius, together
with Runeberg the most well-known of
the Finnish authors writing in Swedish
in the 19th century. Tracks
3 – 6, 9 and 15 are all translations
of Topelius texts, moreover there is
also a Virgin Mary song by Oscar Levertin
(track 16) and Melartin’s Kristuslapsen
kehtolaulo is from the German Des
Knaben Wunderhorn.
There are of course
Christmas songs by famous composers,
but most of the well-known ones are
either anonymous or by more or less
obscure song writers. Not so here, though.
The majority of the composers represented
here are important names in Finnish
music life, not only Sibelius, but Selim
Palmgren should also be known, not least
as a writer of fine piano music, Hannikainen
and Melartin are also famous as is of
course one of the great late 20th
century giants, Joonas Kokkonen, whose
three songs bring the whole recital
to a convincing end.
It was a good idea
to include all five of Sibelius’s opus
1 songs, for some reason performed not
in cronological order (or maybe they
are – in the order of composition; I
have not been able to find any information
about that). In Sweden only Opus 1 No
4 (track 3) is known to people in general,
but instead it belongs to the most often
performed Christmas songs, sung with
the original text Giv mig ej glans,
ej prakt. This song could be a perfect
introduction to all the virtues of Lilli
Paasikivi’s singing, which I rehearsed
in the beginning of the review. It is
definitely one of the highlights of
the disc. Others are Karl Collan’s Sylvias
julvisa (track 9), also a Topelius
setting and a melody that sticks in
one’s memory. Turunen’s Me käymme
joulun viettohon is lively and makes
a welcome contrast to the many medium
tempo or slow songs, while the two Melartin
songs (tracks 11 and 16) are harmonically
more daring, never staying long in a
certain key in an impressionistic manner.
Melartin was one of the most important
figures in Finnish music life during
the first third of the 20th
century, as a teacher, administrator
and composer. In that field he picked
up influences from many directions,
even from the 1920s modernism, but he
was essentially a lyricist and although
he composed in most genres – one opera
and six symphonies among his major works
– his 350 piano pieces and 300 songs
are regarded as his most consummate
compositions.
In Es ist ein Ros
entsprungen (track 14) and Hannikainen’s
Tuikkikaa, oi joulun tähtöset
(track 17) the orchestra gets a well
deserved rest after much fine work during
the recital and Paasikivi is backed
up by the excellent Musica Choir, which
is also heard on the very first track,
together with the orchestra, in the
moving Joulun kellot. The three
Kokkonen songs, written in the 1950s
and 1960s are a far cry from the tonal
language we can hear in his symphonies
and operas, the lively Metsän
joulu with its sparkling accompaniment
and the rhythmically alert little Jouluna
separated by the more inward Legenda,
forming a miniature song cycle.
The Jyväskylä
Sinfonia, conducted by the experienced
Ulf Söderblom, plays very well
indeed the fine accompaniments, most
of them by Ilkka Kuusisto,. The sound
quality is beyond reproach, with excellent
balance between soloist and orchestra.
The disc is obviously aimed at the Finnish
market, since the booklet and the cover
only have information in Finnish, including
the sung texts, and only a couple of
pages in English about the soloist,
conductor, orchestra and choir. Playing
time is not exactly over-generous, but
none of these remarks should deter anyone
from listening to this wonderful singer
in songs that may be new to most listeners
but are well worth the acquaintance.
Göran Forsling
Lili Paasikivi (mezzo) 
