Kajanus post script: [see bottom of previous page].

Of his few recordings the only one that falls below the best standards is unfortunately the Fifth Symphony. The Third still has not been eclipsed, while the First and Second have a really grand and by now unusual way with the music, which approach still has validity.

Quite possibly the Tapiola performance is his greatest recording, though his efforts in the Incidental Music for Belshazah's Feast has a unique concentration and atmosphere to match the Taiola...

These make a splendid appendix to any lover of Sibelius' music, to put alongside others from Barbirolli, Beecham, and Anthony Collins, who also worked with the composer and have unique insights. Of course there are many other great renderings, and only a few bad ones, at least on records. Kajanus gave an astonishing number of Sibelius premiers, in direct consultation with the composer, who was a lifelong friend. Prof Robert Kajanus died in 1932 or '33, in his seventies.

Kindest regards from Fredrik

Post post script on Robert Kajanus:

Sibelius was by no means a poor conductor, but there is only one recording of his music under his own baton.

The story of the recording of the Andante festivo, and the subsequent false attribution of another recording as being directed by the composer.

The mp3 excerpt linked to within the article is about four minutes of the orchestra warming up, which is more entertaining than you might think, followed by Sibelius coming to the front and being applauded. Then the rehearsal starts...

I now want to get the original "Sibelius" recording for myself!

Clearly those of us who knew the old 78 set, broadcast for example by the BBC in 1985 ascribing it to Sibelius, will be both sadened that that beautiful performance was not led by Sibelius, but also glad that a real recording of him does actually exist!

Kajanus on the other hand was Sibelius' closest music collaborator till Kajanus' death. Sibelius himself recomended Kajanus for the Finish Governement Sponsored project. Below is a link about the project though the collaboration between the composer and conductor is more significant than the article suggests.

Kajanus and Sibelius.

Kindest regards from Fredrik

The Kajanus Sibelius Symphony No.5 & Tapiola and the Schnéevoigt symphony No.6 arrived this morning. It's judgement day, Fredrik!

Also, more Karajan Sibelius. The EMI recordings of Tapiola, En Saga, Finlandia, The Swan of Tuonela, Karelia suite and Valse triste. I'd assumed the CD was the same as the LP but the Karelia suite and Valse triste are not on the LP release and I've not heard Karajan and the BPO playing the Karelia suite before. I have a feeling it's going to suit Karajan and the BPO perfectly and be very good indeed.

Dear Basil,

Please do post your reaction to the Sibelius on your new discs! I shall try to look in later [staying at Frank F's is Spain] to see what you think!

In Holiday Mood, Fredrik

Dear Fredrik,

quote:

[staying at Frank F's is Spain]

You lucky, lucky bastard! ;-)

All I've had time to listen to so far is the Karelia suite on the Karajan disc, and I have to say it's something of a disappointment, I was expecting more, but it's flat, there's no energy, no snap, no crackle, no pop!

The version I'm comparing it with is by Okko Kamu with the Helsinki Radio symphony orchestra.

I was expecting great things from Karajan; his performance of "Finlandia" on the same disc is superb. I did note that the Karelia is a later, digital recording from 86, only a few years before he died, which may be why it's so poor.

The disc is still well worth a listen though, Tapiola is stunning, as is The Swan of Tuonela and as mentioned above, Finlandia is one of the very best I've heard.

Well, just been listening to an edition of Radio 3's 'Discovering Music' concerning Tapiola (an illustrated discussion of the piece given by Stephen Johnson with help from the BBC Phil under Martyn Brabbins, a conductor who impressed me again - last time it was with a fine reading of Elgar's The Kingdom). I must thank Basil for providing the CD.

I didn't get on all that well with Mr Johnson and his discovering music on the second symphony (but then I wasn't altogether in sympathy with his conducting partner and I knew that work much better). This is another matter and I now feel much better acquainted with the piece (those who don't would do well to speak to Basil nicely) - I think I'll have another listen in a couple of days as I don't think I will have taken everything he had to say in.

And a rather fine reading of Tapiola to cap it (if not in Karajan's league).


regards, Tam

p.s. Up later, Tchaik 5 (as Life on Mars appears to have been postponed for the football [livid emoticon]).

Basil! The Kajanus, not the Karajan! You know that what I think of Karajan is not postable on the Forum! I think you are too kind about his performance of the Karelia, by the way!

You will have to wait till Thursday now as I am off to Sevilla tomorrow! I just really want to see if you find the old Kajanus reading of Tapiola convincing!

Kindest regards from Fredrik. [Off to bed - very early start - type Smiley]!

Hi Tam,

I'm glad you found the program interesting, I am a little surprised you enjoyed the final performance, I was a little disappointed with it after enjoying the excerpts during Stephen Johnson's workshop on the great Finnish composer's final orchestral work.

I'd be happy to loan you the EMI CD if I could borrow the 1964 DG recording of yours? PM me at the fish tank if you're up for this musical exchange.

Dear Fredrik,

Sorry about that, but I just had to hear the Karajan first. I'll give the Kajanus a serious listen, both Tapiola and the 5th symphony as well as the Schnéevoigt symphony No.6 and report back.

Yours apologetically,

Basil

Dear Basil,

Back from Sevilla now! How's it going? Fredrik

Dear Fredrik,

I've not had time to listen properly to the Kajanus, I've played his Tapiola and my initial feeling is that he takes it just a little to fast. His tempi just doesn't fit the work.
The sound however, is quite remarkable, a little thin and mono but very good for a 30's recording.

Dear Basil,

I must say that I never noted the tempo one way or the other, as it seemed so natural to me...

I will be back in UK tomorrow and will put the old set [Finlandia/ EMI transfer from the Master parts] on and see if I can see anything that sticks out. What struck me was the sweep of the conception, and the depth of commitment in the performance!

So tomorrow evening or Sunday [Polish Party tomorrow evening!] I will try to get back.

In Holiday mood, ATB from Fredrik!

Easy on the Vodka Fredders!

Have fun!

Dear Basil,

Due to failures in the system of rail transport I spent almost longer sitting on the platform of Gloucester station on Saturday than in the air between Malaga and Bristol! Totally rail time was from 13.44 till 17.16 - Bristol Temple Meads to Worcester Shrub Hill - with a rather long break at Gloucester to take the stale ham sandwiches and sweet tea, which cost as much as a three course meal in Sevilla earlier in the week!

Therefore I was frustrated, kn******d, and had a cracking head ache. The party proceeded no further than one bottle of Chilean plonk, before I headed home...

But the good news is that I have now unearthed the old Kajanus recording of Tapiola [hidden in one of five boxes of CDs packed up for my recent move across the river in Worcester], and am making a detailed study of it as a performance for the first time ever, though I have listen to it many times over the last ten years in the way I listen at concerts! I quite agreed that the very start is swift, even just slightly unruly in certain details, but this does not last long. I want to listen once more before really trying to give a hint of the way the performance goes. In the absense of another performance to put on you will have to take it as my view in the absolute, rather than in the comparative.

Later, my dear friend! ATB from Fredrik

Dear Basil,

I have set about the listening, unfortunately without the score, which languishes in a box like so much else just now!

I quite agree with you that the very opening is certainly not as slow as it might be, and the poor timpanist really seems to miss the rhythm that the strings certainly have mastered, but everything really finds its footing at the introduction of the new theme in the flutes just after 2 minutes 50 seconds [in this performance] from where the tension builds to becoming very close to unbearable. In fact the tempo sounds rather measured - even monumentally slow - especially as the storm is broached. The tension is really only released in the very last eight bars or so, and one can see the slightly breezy opening and subsequently huge depiction of the darkness and force of nature, so often found in Sibelius, wonderfully realised in this reading as indicating, whatever short term incident may pass in the music, as one huge and totally involving arch, only settling down into our mortal and mundane surrounds again in the diffusion of tension at the very end! No wonder then, that I had never even considered the reading in a technical way, given its all consuming power. Details are rightly placed as "noted" but the overal flow and sweep of it is far more important.

Though it might well be programatic music, I do not know the programme as such, and have always taken the music as something akin to The Great Fugue of Beethoven in its dark, brooding power, especially in light of the fact that I always have prefered the Beethoven on a String Orchestra to the authentic version written [somewhat improbably I reckon!] for String Quartet.

Perhaps Kajanus' vision is unique by now, in that I cannot imagine any of the present day Sibelians [possibly Bernstein might have done it this well] bringing out with such force of spirit the sheer sweep and unity of the music. Like some great performances, it has the forward momentum of flowing red hot larva. Help anyone, who gets in front of it!

I also have Beecham's recording and one other whom I cannot remember who is playing, but neither of these came close to this for sheer intensity. Beecham sounds quite "proper" in comparison as I remember it!

Once again I have totally failed to put into words the effect music has on me - a sort of hypnotism, which a great reading of great music can achieve without any comprehension of the means [either in the composition or the methods employed in the reading to underscore the composition], or real technical analysis of any sort. All I can say is that I find this is a very real extension of the spirit of the music into an audible form for me.

If you ever see Kajanus' reading of the Third Symphony please do get it. It has just as much illumination in it!

All I have done is show my child-like enthusiasm again, so apologies for that! It is one of the pieces I love very much, and especially in this reading.

Kindest regards from Fredrik. [Obviously not a music critic, Smiley]!

Thank you Fredrik, an interesting read even if I don’t agree with you!

The tone poem Tapiola was inspired by the legends and atmosphere of the great Finnish forests.

"In Pohjola there are thick, dark forests
that dream wild dreams, forever secret.
Tapio's* eerie dwellings are there
and half-glimpsed spirits, and the voices of twilight."

*Tapio - the God of the Forest.

After listening to the Radio 3 “discovering music” program I find myself in complete agreement with Stephen Johnson’s assessment of the work. (I recorded the program and would be happy to send you a copy) .

Tapiola, played well should leave you with a single word at the front of your mind, that word is “ominous”

I see Tapiola as the musical equivalent of setting something fragile and vulnerable against something immense and immovable, such as the state and the individual, humanity and the universe etc.

And in those terms, Karajan does the best job I’ve heard to date.

The Kajanus recording just seems to me to miss the point of the work by a large margin, as does the Beecham one, (which I have) but there is a good reason why the Beecham performance is so poor. I’ve had the record years but have only just noticed the small print on the back of the cover.

“Side 2 B2 of this record had not been approved by Sir Thomas Beecham at the time of his death. In view of the great historical value of Sir Thomas’s recordings, we are grateful to Lady Beecham for permission to publish it.”

I can only assume Lady Beecham hadn’t heard the recording, or she had no idea what Sibelius had in mind with Tapiola.

It is dire, one example springs to mind. The final, rock like “amen” is played as if it were Beethoven not Sibelius. It totally ruins the work! I’m sure Beecham spins in his grave every time it is played!

Davis and Gibson are OK, but you do need to hear Karajan conduct Tapiola. Either the 64, which Tam enjoyed or my current top choice the EMI 77 version. Another bonus with the EMI CD, a magnificent En Saga, spectacular violins, this is Karajan and the Berlin Philharmonic at their very, very best!

Dear Basil,

It's fantastic that we both love this music, even it we have different favourite performances!

Lovely little digresion. Thanks from fredrik!!

Music Matters
Finland Special
Saturday 17 March 2007 12:15-13:00 (Radio 3)

Tom Service takes a musical journey through Finland and discovers the state of Finnish classical music as the country celebrates not only its 90th year of independence but also marks the 50th anniversary of Sibelius's death.

From discussing Sibelius's legacy at Ainola to attending the Musica Nova Helsinki new music festival, Tom finds out what drives Finland's classical music scene and what we can learn from its impressive music education system.

He speaks to composer Magnus Lindberg, conductor Suzanna Malkki and managing director of the Association of Finnish Music Schools Timo Klemettinen as well as other prominent Finns on the front line of Finnish music making.

Thanks for the heads up Basil, I hadn't noticed that one (haven't been reading the schedules all that hawkishly of late).

Nice to read your conflicting views on Kajanus - may have to try and hear for myself (perhaps after I've worked through the BIS box and the earlier Davis survey......)

regards, Tam

Bump for Fredrik.

Regards, Tam

Hi Tam,

I bought the 64 Karajan Sibelius CD, but thanks for the offer of the loan.

For what it's worth, having compared them back to back, the 79' EMI recording is better by quite a margin. A must have disc!