1. En etsi valtaa loistoa (1)(4) 3:25
2. Kun joulu on (5)(6) 2:29
3. Joulun kellot (9)(10) 2:39
4. Maa on niin kaunis 2:43
5. Sylvian joululaulu (5)(6) 2:47
6. Kuului laulu enkelten 2:14
7. Adeste fideles (9)(10) 3:09
8. Jouluyö, juhlayö (5)(14) 4:13
9. Psallat scholarum concio 1:48
10. Heinillä härkien kaukalon (5)(6) 3.37
11. Me käymme joulun viettohon (5)(6) 2:11
12. Maria, Herran piikanen 1:49
13. Varpunen jouluaamuna (5)(6) 3:52
14. Arkihuolesi kaikki heitä (9)(10) 1:50
15. Joudu, satakiel’ 3:24
16. Mökit nukkuu lumiset (5)(6) 3:50
17. Oi, jouluyö (9)(10) 4:02
18. Ave maris stella 1:55
19. Ja neitsyt pikku poijuttansa (5)(6) 1:40
20. Katso, ihme taivainen 1:20
21. On hanget korkeat nietokset (9)(10) 2:28
22. Kun joulu valkeneepi 1:37
23. Taas kaikki kauniit muistot (5)(6) 2:25
24. Jouluna Jumala syntyi 1:50

[ 65:05 ]

Helsinki Philharmonic Orchestra (1)
Jorma Hynninen, baritone !
Tapiola Choir !
Tampere Philharmonic Orchestra (5)
Monica Groop, mezzosoprano !
Jyväskylä Sinfonia (9)
Raimo Sirkiä, tenor !
Vox Aurea !
Savonlinna Opera Festival Chorus !
Matti Salminen, bass !
Turku Castle Chamber Choir !
Sympaatti Youth Choir !

Jorma Panula, conductor (4)
Markus Lehtinen, conductor (6)
Pertti Pekkanen, conductor (10)
Kyösti Haatanen, conductor (14)

Performance: *****
Sound: *****

Soile Isokoski is not only the Nordic vocal flavour of the year, but the latest in an ever-lengthening roll-call of voices, such as those of von Otter, Mattila and Karnéus, to champion Nordic, and specifically Finnish, Golden Age song. This engaging recital explores settings of great Finnish poets such as Eino Leino and VA Koskenniemi by composers such as Merikanto and Kilpinen, and the lesser-known Ilmari and Väinö Hannikainen, and Heino Kaski. Merikanto has pride of place: although Isokoski offers eloquent performances of 11 of his 150 songs, it’s the broader wingspan of Mattila’s soprano which does real justice to this most ecstatic and grandiloquent of National Romantics. But Isokoski’s silvery, sentient soprano comes into its own in the songs of Merikanto’s successor, Yrjö Kilpinen. She relishes the idiosyncratic and graphically expressive melodies of songs like ‘From the Shore’ every bit as much as the simplicity of a mournful lyric from the ‘Kanteletar’ folk anthology. And her accompanist Marita Viitasalo thrills to Kilpinen’s ever-varied piano-writing. The steady pulse of nature is recreated in the songs of the Hannikainen brothers. Isokoski’s soprano takes wing over broad expanses of water in Kaski’s miniatures, and offers a glimpse into the patriotically archaic in two stage ballads from the author of the Finnish National Anthem, Fredrik Pacius.

-- BBC Music Magazine

Prokofiev, S.: Piano Sonatas Nos. 1-3 / Visions Fugitives

Includes work(s) by Giuseppe Verdi, Richard Wagner (Composer), Charles Gounod, Edvard Grieg, André Messager, Oskar Merikanto, Robert Schumann, Paul Vidal, Arthur Goring Thomas, Ruggero Leoncavallo. Soloist: Aino Ackté.

Grieg, E.: String Quartet in G Minor / Schubert, F.: String

Although Madetoja never apes Sibelius's manner, now and again one gets a hint of what a mature Sibelian opera might have sounded like.

If Juhani Aho's tale of misplaced love leading to tragedy was a landmark for the Finnish novel, its operatic potential has proved scarcely less and was spotted early by the singer Aino Ackte. She created a libretto which was offered first to Sibelius (he temporized for a couple of years before finally declining), then to Aarre Merikanto who completed his setting, one of the great operas of the century, in 1921 (now recorded by Finlandia). Merikanto's style was too radical for Finland in the 1920s and his opera was not staged until 1963. Ackte eventually took her libretto back and offered it to Leevi Madetoja, who duly completed his version in 1934. Yet even the most cursory glance at the texts as printed in the booklets accompanying the Merikanto and Madetoja sets reveals that the librettos are utterly different. There are concurrences, but consistent only with both librettos having been derived from a common source. Even the cast lists vary. Madetoja radically simplified the action, concentrating on the three principals (Juha, his errant wife, Marja, and the itinerant Karelian pedlar, Shemeikka). In doing so many of the subtler motivations present in Merikanto's score were lost, most crucially at the climax with the role of Shemeikka in Juha's discovery that Marja had left him of her own accord. What saves Madetoja's version is the music.

If Merikanto's opera now seems the more impressive achievement that is no reflection on Madetoja's, which is as finely conceived as his earlier The Ostrobothnians (see my review in August's issue) and hugely enjoyable. Although Madetoja never apes Sibelius's manner, now and again one gets a hint of what a mature Sibelian opera might have sounded like. With so natural a talent for opera it is a shame that Madetoja completed only two; Ondine and Finlandia are to be praised in making both available. The two acts of Juha are divided one per disc, although at 58 and 41 minutes respectively the second is somewhat short measure. Given that this is not a new recording a suitable coupling could have been found in one of the suites from his ballet Okon Fuoko or even The Ostrobothnians. This is my only quibble about this set; the performance, once again built around the peerless Jorma Hynninen, is splendid. Even if one has the Merikanto Juha, Madetoja's is still well worth investigating on its own merits, let alone as an alternative treatment.

-- Gramophone [11/1992]

This release is the final volume of pianist Paavali Jumppanen’s acclaimed cycle of Beethoven piano sonatas. This volume combines the early Op. 7 and the famous Pathétique sonata together with the Last Sonatas Opp. 109-111 written by Beethoven in the 1820s. Jumppanen has collaborated with numerous contemporary composers and has premiered many solo and chamber works for the piano. He has worked personally with esteemed composers including Pierre Boulez, William Duckworth, Henri Dutilleux, as well as composers of his native Finland. In fact, on the DG recording project of the complete works by Pierre Boulez, Jumppanen recorded the piano sonatas upon the composer’s request. Paavali Jumppanen is an internationally esteemed pianist, a versatile performer equally at home as a concerto soloist, chamber musician, and a recitalist. His vast repertoire spans piano literature from Bach to the Avant-garde. Jumppanen has spent several years performing the works of Viennese Classics, in particular Beethoven. His performances of the complete cycles of Beethoven's and Mozart's Piano Sonatas as well as Beethoven's concertos and chamber music have won critical acclaim. Jumppanen’s installments in the Beethoven cycle have received thrilling reviews and, among others, the ‘Choc’ Award from the French music magazine Classica.

REVIEW:

He brings a supple, pliable touch to the Op. 7's first movement, and his attention to left-hand lines in the finale imbues it with a sharper than usual edge. The rhapsodic Vivace man non troppo of Op. 109 is a model of sensitive phrasing and timing. A superbly engineered and annotated conclusion to his Beethoven cycle.

– Gramophone

FILHARMONIKOT JUHLATUULELLA S

Christmas in Ainola
Christmas Carols by Jean Sibelius and other Christmas songs

Hynninen, Groop, Tapiola Choir, etc.

Jean Sibelius (1865-1957)
1. En etsi valtaa loistoa, op. 1 / We Ask For Nothing Rich Or Rare 3:25
2. On hanget korkeat nietokset, op. 1 / The Shining Snows Are Driven High 2:28
3. Jo joutuu ilta, op. 1 Christmas Carol / O'er Hill And Dale 2:06
4. Joulu saapuu portin luo, op. 1 / Now Stands Yule at the Snowy Gate 1:46
5. Tervehtii jo meitä, op.1 / Now is Christmas Coming 2:46
6. Joululaulu (Nyt seimelle pienoisen lapsen) 2:15
7. Andante festivo 4:17

Leevi Madetoja (1887-1947)
8. Arkihuolesi kaikki heitä / Cast Off Thy Everyday Cares 1:49
9. Enkelien joululaulu (Ylistäkää Jumalaa, taivas ja maa) 1:56

Piae Cantiones
10. Ecce novum gaudium 1:53
11. Angelus emittitur 1:59

Luther
12. Enkeli taivaan lausui näin / From Heaven Above 2:42

Trad.
13. Maa on niin kaunis / The Earth is Beautiful 2:21

Piae Cantiones
14. Psallat scholarum concio 1:46
15. Ave maris stella 1:55

Jean Sibelius (1865-1957)
16-17. Sonatina op.80
16. Andantino (4:28)
17. Lento-Allegretto-Vivace (3:56)

Trad.
18. Kuului laulu enkelten / Angels, from the Realms of Glory 2:14

Otto Kotilainen (1868 - 1936)
19. Kun joulu on / At Christmastide 2:35

Trad.
20. Joulupuu on rakennettu / The Christmas Tree 1:31
21. No onkos tullut kesä / Is It Suddenly Summer? 1:18

Johann Strauss (1804-1849)
22. Radetzky-marssi / Radetzky March 2:42

Tapiola Choir (1)
Jorma Hynninen, baritone (1)
Helsinki Philharmonic Orchestra (1)
Raimo Sirkiä, tenor (2,19)
Jyväskylä Sinfonia (2,19)
Ritva-Liisa Korhonen, soprano (3)
Tampere Philharmonic Orchestra (3)
Chamber Choir Kampin laulu (4,5,9-13,20,21)
Pertti Eerola, organ (4,5,12,13)
Jubilate Choir (6)
Virtuosi di Kuhmo (7)
Monica Groop, mezzosoprano (8)

Turku Castle Chamber Choir (14,15)
Yoshiko Arai, violin (16,17)
Eero Heinonen, piano (16,17)
Marita Viitasalo, piano (22)

Jorma Panula, conductor (1)
Pertti Pekkanen, conductor (2,19)
Kyösti Haatanen, conductor (3)
Timo Lehtovaara, conductor (4,5,9-13,20,21)
Astrid Riska, conductor (6)
Peter Csaba, conductor (7)
Markus Lehtinen, conductor (8)
Heikki Seppänen, conductor
Erkki Pohjola, conductor
[ 56:00 ]

Vocal Recital: Davis, Osceola / Hynninen, Jorma - Negro Spir

NORDGREN: STRING QUARTETS NO 4

Finnish baritone Gabriel Suovanen is featured on his début recording with popular Finnish Lied repertoire from the 19th and 20h century.

Strauss, R.: Cello Sonata in F Major / Sibelius, J.: Malinco

Best known for his gigantic orchestral masterpieces Johannes Brahms took equal pleasure in writing smaller miniatures. In fact, Brahms wrote a substantial number of pieces for vocal quartet and piano; this ensemble was for him a vehicle for expressing warmth and positive emotions, and as such this genre remains one of the most beloved in his output. This new recording by the prestigious Latvian Radio Choir under Sigvards Klava features a selection from his Op.. 52, 64, 65 and 92, including some of his famous Liebeslieder-Walzer. Brahms wrote his earliest waltzes for piano duet and published them as Op. 39 in 1865. Some years later, in 1868-1869, he went on to write the Liebeslieder-Walzer for vocal quartet and piano four hands, Op. 52. These, in turn, prompted a "sequel" in Neue Liebeslieder, Op. 65 five years later. These warm and vivacious songs are a happy marriage of Viennese waltzes and the love poetry of Georg Friedrich Daumer, and biographers point to a romantic impulse stemming from Brahms's amorous enchantment with the daughter of his close frien dClara Schumann, Julia. Brahms's vocal quartets with piano accompaniment represent an interesting chamber music approach to vocal music. They give the impression of being created for the purpose of intimate music-making at home, among friends. The Liebeslieder-Walzer quickly became one of Brahms's most popular works.

1. Tuo armon valkokyyhky 2:13
2. En etsi valtaa, loistoa 3:18
3. Nyt seimelle pienoisen lapsen 1:47
4. Joulun kellot (Hiljaa, hiljaa helkkyellen) 2:10
5. Kautta tyynen vienon yön 1:25
6. Tuikkikaa, oi joulun tähtöset 1:58
7. Ja neitsyt pikku poijuttansa 1:36
8. Rauhanruhtinas 1:34
9. Joulu tullut on 1:48
10. Joulupuu on rakennettu 2:14
11. Kun joulu on 2:40
12. Enkelien joululaulu 1:25
13. Seimeen syntynyt 2:05
14. Arkihuolesi kaikki heitä 1:30
15. Joulun kellot 3:11
16. Tulemme, Jeesus, pienoises 3:06
17. Joululaulu (Jeesuslapsi suloinen) 1:53
18. Jouluhymni 2:20
19. Olen löytänyt sen 3:14
20. Ilouutinen 2:44
21. Heinillä härkien kaukalon 2:29
22. Maa on niin kaunis 2:55
23. Jouluyö, juhlayö 2:51
24. Rukous 3:47
25. Jouluilta 3:09
26. Det är en ros utsprungen 4:15

[ 65:38 ]

Helsinki Chamber Choir (Finnish Radio Chamber Choir)
Johanna Rusanen, soprano
Timo Nuoranne, conductor