A Five Star Sibelius Celebration
Karita Mattila
Jorma Hynninen
Monica Groop
Pekka Kuusisto
Olli Mustonen
Track listing
30 tracks · 62:41Listen to samples on selected tracks.
Jean Sibelius
- Bagatelles, Op. 34 13:29
- 1 I. Valse 1:45
- 2 II. Air de danse 0:43
- 3 III. Mazurka 1:18
- 4 IV. Couplet 1:23
- 5 V. Boutade 1:36
- 6 VI. Rêverie 1:58
- 7 VII. Danse pastorale 0:46
- 8 IX. Reconnaissance 0:42
- 9 X. Souvenir 1:41
- 10 XIII. Joueur de harpe 1:37
- 11 Våren flyktar hastigt, Op. 13/4 1:36
- 12 Den första kyssen (The First Kiss), Op. 37/1 2:04
- 13 Men min fågel märks dock icke, Op. 36/2 2:32
- 14 Var det et dröm (Did I Just Dream?), Op. 37/4 2:09
- 15 Demanten på marssön (The Diamond on the March Snow), Op. 36/6 3:21
- 16 Flickan kom ifrån sin älsklings möte (The Tryst), Op. 37/5 3:04
- Two Serenades for Violin and Orchestra, Op. 69 11:22
- 17 Serenade I in D major 5:15
- 18 Serenade II in G minor 6:07
- The Tempest, Op. 109
- 19 Ariel's 1st Song 2:08
- 20 Ariel's 2nd Song 1:49
- 21 Ariel's 3rd Song 1:07
- 22 Ariel's 4th Song 0:46
- 23 Ariel's 5th Song 1:06
- 24 Säv, säv, susa, Op. 36/4 2:32
- 25 Svarta rosor (Black Roses), Op. 36/1 2:32
- 26 Illalle (To Evening), Op. 17/6 1:27
- 27 Lastu lainehilla, Op. 17/7 1:14
- 28 Souda, souda, sinisorsa 1:16
- 29 Kaiutar, Op. 72/4 2:58
- 30 Laulu ristilukista (Fool's Song of the Cross-spider), Op. 27/4 4:09
About this recording
Half a century after the death of Jean Sibelius, the dominant icon of Finnish classical music, Ondine is celebrating the Sibelius year 2007 with the release of this 'best of' compilation, featuring popular works in praised performances by the very best Finnish artists:
- "A living dream of pianism, having broken through an expressive barrier that other players do not know exists", Olli Mustonen has established himself as one of the most respected and exciting pianists of our time. His interpretation of Sibelius's miniature gems for piano (tracks 1-10) was praised by Pianist Magazine as "real magic".
- Recognized as one of today's most exciting lyric dramatic sopranos, Karita Mattila is one of the most radiant personalities in the classical world and Ondine's best-selling artist. At the peak of her career in 1995, the "body-and-soul Diva" recorded six of Sibelius's most intimately striking songs (11-16) with "a supreme combination of vocal beauty, technique, interpretative skills and raw passion" (Classical Voice).
- "Maybe be the best thing to happen to classical music in years" (The Guardian, January 16, 2007), young violin star Pekka Kuusisto recorded two serenades (17, 18) with the chamber orchestra Tapiola Sinfonietta in 2006, a fresh recording that earned top accolades internationally, including '10/10' on ClassicsToday.com.
- Always in demand from many of the world's leading opera houses and orchestras, mezzo-soprano Monica Groop has become particularly respected for her unique interpretation of Scandinavian music. She convincingly demonstrates this here in her delivery of five songs taken from the incidental music for Shakespeare's The Tempest (19-23).
- Baritone Jorma Hynninen is one of the most celebrated Finnish singers and is venerated as the ultimate authority when it comes to performing Finnish repertoire such as in the seven songs contained on this disc (24-30).
Features
Booklet with liner notes in English and Finnish
The artists
Karita Mattila
Winner of the first 'Singer of the World' competition in Cardiff, Karita Mattila is recognised as much for the beauty and versatility of her lyric voice as for her extraordinary stage ability. Under such conductors as Claudio Abbado, James Levine, Sir Simon Rattle and Esa-Pekka Salonen, she has sang in all the major opera houses and festivals of the world performing repertoire which encompasses Mozart, Strauss, Tchaikovsky, Verdi, Puccini, Wagner and Janácek. Her affinity with the dramatic side of opera has produced marvellous results when working with fine stage directors such as Luc Bondy who helped her to achieve a remarkable performance in his highly acclaimed Don Carlos, seen in Paris, London and at the Edinburgh Festival. Likewise, Lev Dodin in his productions of Elektra for the Salzburg Easter Festival and Pique Dame and Salome at the Opera Bastille, Peter Stein for his production of Simon Boccanegra in Salzburg, Robert Carsen in his production of Lohengrin at the Bastille and Jürgen Flimm for his Fidelio in New York.
Jorma Hynninen
Baritone Jorma Hynninen is one of the most highly appreciated Finnish vocal artists of all time. His unprejudiced and profound approach to art has contributed not only to a renewal in the art of interpreting solo songs but also to the creation of a number of new contemporary operas. In Lied, he has concentrated on the song cycles of Schubert, Schumann, Brahms and Wolf and the solo songs of Sibelius, Oskar Merikanto, Toivo Kuula and Yrjö Kilpinen. He has appeared at innumerable distinguished venues, including Carnegie Hall, Lincoln Center, the Queen Elizabeth Hall, the Royal Albert Hall, the Musikverein, the Concertgebouw, Boston Symphony Hall, Chicago Symphony Hall and the festivals at Tanglewood, Ravinia and Salzburg.
Monica Groop
Finnish mezzo-soprano Monica Groop has been recognised for her amazing versatility in a wide-ranging repertoire that spans baroque music through classical to contemporary and has performed in many of the world's leading opera houses and orchestras such as Covent Garden, Paris, Los Angeles, Chicago and New York. She has worked with conductors as diverse as Colin Davis, Zubin Mehta, Bernard Haitink, Roger Norrington, Ivor Bolton, Esa-Pekka Salonen and Christoph Eschenbach.
Also recommended
Jean Sibelius
The Tempest, Op. 109
Monica Groop, mezzo-soprano · Raili Viljakainen, soprano · Jorma Hynninen, baritone · Jorma Silvasti, tenor · Sauli Tiilikainen, baritone · Opera Festival Chorus · Finnish RSO · Jukka-Pekka Saraste, conductor
Info & buy
Jean Sibelius
Works for Violin and Orchestra
Tapiola Sinfonietta · Pekka Kuusisto, violin & conductor
Info & buy