Rustic
Ole Skipper | Aarhus, Denmark | 02/27/2003
(4 out of 5 stars)
"With 70 minutes playing time, this selection of five of Sibelius' wonderful tone poems is quite generous - and all the more attractive for including two famous but seldom heard works: The Oceanides and The Bard. The Icelanders play with enthusiasm and fine understanding of this very Nordic music - and their slightly unpolished, almost rustic approach suits the music well. The difficult Tapiola (Sibelius' final masterpiece) is given a very fine, at times nearly hypnotic reading with real magic and sense of wonder. En Saga is fine too, though marred by some ridiculously loud timpani on a couple of occasions. The three shorter poems too are beautifully realized.I find the sound quality less than ideal - the overall impression being buttom-heavy and slightly woolly, with occasional balancing problems. The sound seems slightly inconsistent from piece to piece and the recording/mastering level is disturbingly low. Still, crank up the volume, there is very much to enjoy here!"
This series maintains its high level
J Scott Morrison | Middlebury VT, USA | 03/03/2003
(5 out of 5 stars)
"I've lost track of how many discs there are now in the Sakari/Iceland/Naxos Sibelius series. They've done all the symphonies - now available in a terrific boxed set - and at least one other orchestral set that includes the popular Finlandia. This one includes some of the other orchestral music, tone poems including Pohjola's Daughter, The Oceanides, Tapiola, En Saga, and the rarely heard The Bard. Don't be fooled by the fact that this set comes from a country that we don't associate with great music-making: this Iceland Symphony Orchestra is on a par with at least the second-tier orchestras of Europe and America. And its conductor, a Finn, has a gut-level feel for Sibelius's moody and dramatic music. I particularly liked Tapiola, Sibelius's last tone poem, with its striking intoduction with divided violas and low bassoon chords and later on the extensive use of wind solos against divided strings. For the price, this disc simply can't be bested."
Excellent performances
Sungu Okan | Istanbul, Istanbul Turkey | 07/28/2004
(5 out of 5 stars)
"This new recording is really good. Iceland Symphony Orchesta is among the very succesful orchestras of all Europe. The conductor Petri Sakari is always a champion performer (from new generation) of Sibelius. He still recorded, Sibelius' almost complete orchestral works to Chandos Records and now to Naxos.
Especially in tutti passages, climaxes, the orchestra plays very powerful. The brass and percussion are very good, woodwinds are heared very clear.
CD starts with Pohjola's Daughter, which written from finnish Kalevala epic. And then there is a magical tone poem, The Oceanides, written after Homeros. The orchestration and the sea effects are very amazing. Then, Sibelius's last major work, Tapiola. This is based on Kalevala, again. Tapio is the name of the forest god, according story. There are very impressive contrasts between hypnotic, a little hesitated, light colours and dramatic darkful colours. The orchestration is marvellous again. Especially, in last minutes there is a terrific storm scene and it's very spine chilling. Climaxes (which played by brass) are very powerful...
And then, there is a early-period work, En saga. This means "A Hero", but this has no programme. This work is one of the first success of the composer and it is very tuneful music.
And last, one of the composer's most radical, dramatic work, The Bard. Still, this work was written in tragic E-flat minor. Bard is a creature which played a mediavl harp, like lyre in Greek myths. This music in contemplative mood in first minutes, sorrowful, but later there is a dramatic climax and then music slowly fades out. The colours, harmonies are amazing.
At this price this is a must have. Highly recommended."
Track Listings (5) - Disc #1