Sibelius - Orchestral Works [Jarvi-Gothenburg Symphony Orchestra]
One of the treasured Sibelius 'recital' discs in my collection, this fills gaps that otherwise take many discs, the two well known pieces are Valse Triste and Tapiola, and both are welcome here, but it's the other stuff which is so enlightening, especially Scene With Cranes and The Bard, Sibelius has some lesser known little masterpieces if you look beyond his Violin Concerto and the Symphonies, this makes me want to explore him even more, this is a regular little appearer in my Blog [8th July 2010 & 2nd December 2012].
Neeme Jarvi is Estonian, he's now 77, this recording was made in made in 1992-1995, i guess a compilation of a number of other discs, the front cover shows a bleak water / forest-scape [photo by Sally Mayman], all black & white and minimalist, and yet superbly symmetrical, for once the DG yellow logo gives a great splash of colour, and actually adds to the picture, one of the best front cover pictures i've seen, and of course it certainly goes well with Tapiola, with a mysterious brooding quality.
Well like i said above it was tracks 1-2, 4 & 7 that were the best, so i guess this time i would like to explain my newfound love of Scene With Cranes, it's a mini masterpiece, starts with quiet high strings, very endearing, but then is pierced with six cries of the mystical cranes [1:15-2:04], represented by the clarinets, piercing and out of tune of sorts, the music returns to the beginning and starts up again, in the second part it sounds like the tremolos of a solo viola [3:25+], and ends gently, it's short at five minutes, but it packs an atmospheric punch, i'm glad i got to know this today.
Here's Segerstam playing Scene With Cranes on YouTube.
Neeme Jarvi is Estonian, he's now 77, this recording was made in made in 1992-1995, i guess a compilation of a number of other discs, the front cover shows a bleak water / forest-scape [photo by Sally Mayman], all black & white and minimalist, and yet superbly symmetrical, for once the DG yellow logo gives a great splash of colour, and actually adds to the picture, one of the best front cover pictures i've seen, and of course it certainly goes well with Tapiola, with a mysterious brooding quality.
Well like i said above it was tracks 1-2, 4 & 7 that were the best, so i guess this time i would like to explain my newfound love of Scene With Cranes, it's a mini masterpiece, starts with quiet high strings, very endearing, but then is pierced with six cries of the mystical cranes [1:15-2:04], represented by the clarinets, piercing and out of tune of sorts, the music returns to the beginning and starts up again, in the second part it sounds like the tremolos of a solo viola [3:25+], and ends gently, it's short at five minutes, but it packs an atmospheric punch, i'm glad i got to know this today.
Here's Segerstam playing Scene With Cranes on YouTube.
