SIBELIUS : Songs (2008) Serie The Sibelius Edition – Vol. 7 | 5CD BOX-SET | FLAC (tracks+.cue), lossless

Tracklist & Credits

SIBELIUS : Miscellaneous Works (2011) Serie The Sibelius Edition – Vol. 13 | 4CD BOX-SET | FLAC (tracks+.cue), lossless

The final volume of the BIS Sibelius Edition is released almost exactly four years after the launch of the project in 2007. A main point of interest in this particular instalment – Miscellaneous Works – is the Masonic Ritual Music, Op.113 – here recorded for the first time with the original texts. Sibelius had become a freemason in 1922, soon after the foundation of the first modern Finnish lodge after the Russian ban on freemasonry in 1809. The music – set for tenor, male-voice choir and organ –  was written in response to a request for ‘special, genuinely Finnish music for the lodge’, and for it Sibelius used Finnish texts, including translations from German, Swedish and Chinese. Although the main part of Op.113 was composed in 1927, Sibelius made additions and revisions over the years, and the present performance (which is based on the 1950 edition), thus includes two pieces from 1946 believed to be his last original compositions. Two of the movements in the Masonic Music are for solo organ, and Volume 13 also includes Sibelius remaining solo works for that instrument, such as the striking Surusoitto (‘Mournful Music’) which Sibelius wrote for the 1931 funeral of the painter Gallen-Kallela, a friend of long standing. There are also a number of fragments and sketches included here, for instance of a projected musical adaptation of H.C. Andersen’s tale The Little Mermaid for string quartet and recitation, and a set of brief piano pieces for children. Of particular interest is the more substantial orchestral fragment of a projected tone poem entitled Luonnotar. In 1906 Sibelius had a change of heart, and recomposed much of the material included in the fragment into a new piece, Pohjola’s Daughter. Rounding off the edition on Disc 3 of the four CDs included here is the composer himself, conducting his own Andante festivo in a recording made during a live radio broadcast in 1939. Also on that disc is a video file of the classic ‘Jean Sibelius at Home’ film based on documentary material filmed in 1927 and 1945. As an appendix, a fourth CD contains music by contemporaries, friends and pupils of Sibelius, including Ferruccio Busoni and Robert Kajanus. With this final instalment a separate booklet with the complete index to the recordings and works included in the entire edition is provided, as a key to the 80+ hours of music that form the lifework of Sibelius. BIS   Tracklist & Credits

RAUTAVAARA : Kaivos (The Mine) (Hannu Lintu) (2011) FLAC (image+.cue), lossless

When this recording of Einojuhani Rautavaara's 1962 opera Kaivos (The Mine) was released commercially for the first time in 2011, the composer wrote that it is "perhaps the best opera I have ever written." One hesitates to argue with a composer's judgement, but as a purely audio experience the opera doesn't make quite as strong an impression in its musical content and dramatic punch as Rautavaara's more characteristically lyrical later works like Thomas (1982-1985) and Aleksis Kivi (1995-1960). Rautavaara wrote The Mine, his first opera, during his early serial period, so it is a craggier and less immediately approachable work. His commitment to serialism was not absolute and it was influenced by Berg, so the music is tempered by the incorporation of popular and folk elements and broadly Romantic gestures that become more emotionally expressive as the action progresses. The opera packs a densely complex (and often confusing) narrative into three short acts lasting just an hour and a quarter. Rautavaara wrote the libretto based on a very recent uprising of mine workers in Hungary. Because of the Soviet Union's heavy influence in Finland at the time, the opera was never staged but it was broadcast on Finnish television in 1963 with its more incendiary political themes toned down. It's a recording of that broadcast that's released here. Bass-baritone Jorma Hynninen, who has gone on to star in many other Rautavaara operas, is superb in the central role of the Commissar. The other soloists are not at his level, but they are never less than very fine and the performers all seem to be deeply invested in the opera. Hannu Lintu draws excellent playing and singing from the Tampere Philharmonic Orchestra and the Kaivos Chorus. Ondine's sound is clean, warmly atmospheric, and well balanced. The Mine should be of interest to anyone who loves Rautavaara, and to fans of new opera. by Stephen Eddins