Jean SIBELIUS
(1865-1957)
Songs
1. Flickan kom ifrån sin
äsklings möte, Op. 37 No.
5 (Runeberg) - The Maiden returned
from her Lover's Tryst
2. Hennes budskap, Op. 90 No. 2
(Runeberg) - Her Message
3. Jägargossen, Op. 13 No.
7 (Runeberg) - The Hunter Lad
4. Längtan heter min arfvedel,
Op. 86 No. 2 (Karlfeldt) - Longing
is my Heritage
5. På verandan vid havet,
Op. 38 No. 2 (Rydberg) - On a Balcony
by the Sea
6. Romeo, Op. 61 No. (Tavaststjerna)
- Romeo
7. Marssnön (Wecksell) - March
Snow
8. Kullervon valitus [Kullervo
Symphony, Op. 7] (Kalevala - Runo
XXXV) - Kullervo's Lament
9. Höstkväll, Op. 38
No. 1 (Rydberg) - Autumn Evening
10. Den första kyssen, Op.
37 No. 1 (Runeberg) - The First Kiss
11. I systrar, I bröder, I
alskande par, Op. 86 No. 6 (Lybeck)
- Ye Sisters, Ye Brothers, Ye Loving
Couples
12. Varen flyktar hastigt, Op.
13 No. (Runeberg) - Spring Flies Fast
13. Necken, Op. 57 No. 8 (Josephson)
- The Elfking
14. Langsamt som qvallskyn, Op.
61 No. 1 (Tavaststjerna) - Slowly
as the Evening Sky
15. Jag ar ett trad, Op. 57 No.
5 (Josephson) - The Tree
16. Norden, Op. 90 No. 1 (Runeberg)
- The North
17. Narciss (Gripenberg) - Narcissus
18. Om, kvällen, (Illalle)
Op. 17 No. 6 (Forsman-Koskimies) -
To The Evening
19. Säv, säv, susa, Op.
36 No. (Froding) - Sigh, Sigh, Sedges
20. Kom nu hit, dod!, Op. 60 No.
1 (Shakespeare) - Come Away, Death!
21. Lastu lainehilla, Op. 17 No.
7 (Calamnius-Kianto) - Chip on the
Waves
22. Diamanten på Marssnön,
Op. 36 No. 6 (Wecksell) - A Diamond
on March Snow
23. Vilse, Op. 17 No. 4 (Tavaststjerna)
- Astray
24. Svarta Rosor, Op. 36 No. 1
(Josephson) - Black Roses
25. Var det en drom?, Op. 37 No.
(Wecksell) - Was it a Dream?
Richard STRAUSS
(1864-1949)
Zueignung, Op. 10 No. 1 (von Gilm)
- Devotion
Traum durch die Dämmerung, Op.
29 No. 1 (Bierbaum) - Dream in the
Twilight
Standchen, Op. 17 No. 2 (von Schack)
- Serenade
Breit' uber mein Haupt, Op. 19 No.
2 (von Schack) - Spread above my Head
Ach, weh mir ungluckhaftem ann, Op.
21 No. (Dahn) - Oh, Woe is Me, Unlucky
Man
Heimliche Aufforderung, Op. 27 No.
3 (Mackay) - Secret Tryst
Ruhe, meine Seele, Op. 27 No. 1 (Henckell)
- Rest, My Soul
Caecilie, Op. 27 No. 2 (Hart) - Cecily
These are the first
London-based Sibelius song recordings
of the Finnish baritone, Tom Krause.
They date from 35 and 40 years ago.
You might be more familiar with the
more extensive he recordings he made
with Söderström again in
London between 1978 and 1981. These
are still available in a boxed set
(Decca
476 1725). Krause (b. 1934) must
have used his voice intelligently
over the years for in the later set
it still sounded in good heart two
decades after the recordings we hear
now.
In these 33 songs
he proves himself a stentorian dramatist
in songs such as Flickan Kom and
På verandan. Yet he can
also phrase with honeyed serenading
suaveness as in the Längtan
heter. Fine grotesquerie is well
within his reach in Romeo and
there’s delicacy too in I systrar
and Säv säv susa.
The Sibelians of the 1960s were also
vouchsafed an extract from Kullervo
in the operatic-tragic Kullervon
valitus. That he was aged between
29 and 33 when these recordings were
made makes the results even more impressive.
Den Första
kissen is passionate and romantic
with nicely judged variations in dynamic.
The mildest and most subtle of dissonances
are included in the expressionist
fantasy of Langsamt som qvallskyn.
Pianist Pentti Koskimies (1922-1992)
is sometimes a shade less sensitive
than Ashkenazy in the second Decca
set. He is however largely beyond
any real criticism in the fragile
and vulnerable Norden, the
candied snowy chime of Om Kvällen
with the patriotic echoes of Finlandia
in the voice part and the quick-pulsed
Var det en drom? In Vilse
shades of Magic Flute and
Viennese dance halls melt and separate.
Krause rises to the lyrical challenge
in Var det en drom? This set
is also notable for its early appearance
in a walk-on part by guitarist John
Williams in Kom nu hit, dod!
The notes are typically useful but
it’s a shame to be without the sung
words and translations.
The Strauss songs
also benefit from his and Koskimies’
skipping and wondrous delicacy in
Ständchen. More often
though he is called on to be soulful
as in Breit’ über mein Haupt
or responsicve to intricate rhythmic
patterning as in Ach, weh mir ungluckhaftem
ann or heroic as in Caecilie.
The young Tom Krause
caught in golden and resoundingly
ringing youth.
Rob Barnett
Tom Krause (baritone), Pentti Koskimies
(piano), John Williams (guitar) 
