Sibelius: Suites - Pelleas et Melisande, King Christian II, Swanwhite / Sakari

$13.99
Label
Chandos
Release Date
July 29, 2014
Format
Added to Cart! View cart or continue shopping.


    Featuring ⌄
    • COMPOSER
      SIBELIUS, JEAN
    • ORCHESTRA / ENSEMBLE
      Iceland Symphony Orchestra
    • PERFORMER
      Sakari
    Product Details ⌄
    • RELEASE DATE
      July 29, 2014
    • UPC
      095115182826
    • CATALOG NUMBER
      CHAN 10828 X
    • LABEL
      Chandos
    • NUMBER OF DISCS
      1
    • GENRE
      Vocal
    Works ⌄

    1. I. At the Castle Gate

      Composer: Jean Sibelius

      Ensemble: Iceland Symphony Orchestra

      Conductor: Petri Sakari

    2. II. Melisande

      Composer: Jean Sibelius

      Ensemble: Iceland Symphony Orchestra

      Conductor: Petri Sakari

    3. IIa. At the Seashore

      Composer: Jean Sibelius

      Ensemble: Iceland Symphony Orchestra

      Conductor: Petri Sakari

    4. III. A Spring in the Park

      Composer: Jean Sibelius

      Ensemble: Iceland Symphony Orchestra

      Conductor: Petri Sakari

    5. IV. The 3 Blind Sisters

      Composer: Jean Sibelius

      Ensemble: Iceland Symphony Orchestra

      Conductor: Petri Sakari

    6. V. Pastorale

      Composer: Jean Sibelius

      Ensemble: Iceland Symphony Orchestra

      Conductor: Petri Sakari

    7. VI. Melisande and the Spinning Wheel

      Composer: Jean Sibelius

      Ensemble: Iceland Symphony Orchestra

      Conductor: Petri Sakari

    8. VII. Entr'acte

      Composer: Jean Sibelius

      Ensemble: Iceland Symphony Orchestra

      Conductor: Petri Sakari

    9. VIII. The Death of Melisande

      Composer: Jean Sibelius

      Ensemble: Iceland Symphony Orchestra

      Conductor: Petri Sakari

    10. II. The Harp

      Composer: Jean Sibelius

      Ensemble: Iceland Symphony Orchestra

      Conductor: Petri Sakari

    11. III. The Maidens with the Roses

      Composer: Jean Sibelius

      Ensemble: Iceland Symphony Orchestra

      Conductor: Petri Sakari

    12. V. The Prince alone

      Composer: Jean Sibelius

      Ensemble: Iceland Symphony Orchestra

      Conductor: Petri Sakari

    13. VI. Swanwhite and the Prince

      Composer: Jean Sibelius

      Ensemble: Iceland Symphony Orchestra

      Conductor: Petri Sakari

    14. VII. Song of Praise

      Composer: Jean Sibelius

      Ensemble: Iceland Symphony Orchestra

      Conductor: Petri Sakari

    15. I. Nocturne

      Composer: Jean Sibelius

      Ensemble: Iceland Symphony Orchestra

      Conductor: Petri Sakari

    16. II. Élégie -

      Composer: Jean Sibelius

      Ensemble: Iceland Symphony Orchestra

      Conductor: Petri Sakari

    17. IIa. Musette

      Composer: Jean Sibelius

      Ensemble: Iceland Symphony Orchestra

      Conductor: Petri Sakari

    18. III. Menuetto

      Composer: Jean Sibelius

      Ensemble: Iceland Symphony Orchestra

      Conductor: Petri Sakari

    19. IV. Fool's Song of the Spider

      Composer: Jean Sibelius

      Ensemble: Iceland Symphony Orchestra

      Performer: Sauli Tiilikainen

      Conductor: Petri Sakari

    20. V. Serenade

      Composer: Jean Sibelius

      Ensemble: Iceland Symphony Orchestra

      Conductor: Petri Sakari

    21. VI. Ballade

      Composer: Jean Sibelius

      Ensemble: Iceland Symphony Orchestra

      Conductor: Petri Sakari


I cannot remember having enjoyed this music more. Petri Sakari’s performance is totally unaffected, plain and full of enthusiasm; the players sound as if they are enjoying this score and communicate their pleasure.

– Gramophone, reviewing original release

-----

This reissue features performances of incidental music by Jean Sibelius, recorded in 1992 by Petri Sakari and the Iceland Symphony Orchestra. Sakari’s recordings with this orchestra during the 1990s made a significant contribution to the discography of Scandinavian music, notably of works by Grieg, Sibelius, and Madetoja.

Sibelius composed the score for King Christian II, a play by his friend Adolf Paul, in 1898 and it anticipates the richly romantic sound of the First Symphony. Here the usual suite is expanded by the inclusion of two movements from the incidental music not usually heard: the Menuetto and "The Fool’s Song."

Maurice Maeterlinck’s much-performed yet complex psychological drama Pelléas et Mélisande inspired works by Debussy, Fauré, Schoenberg, and Sibelius, whose incidental music consists mainly of interludes in a uniquely dark, subdued, and typically Nordic vein.

Altogether sweeter is the delicate and poetic score for Swanwhite, August Strindberg's "idealistic play of pure beauty." Sibelius condensed the original music into a charming concert suite of seven movements, five of which are recorded here.