Jean Sibelius
Kullervo
Soile Isokoski, soprano · Tommi Hakala, baritone · YL Male Voice Choir · Helsinki Philharmonic Orchestra · Leif Segerstam, conductor
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Jean Sibelius
Cantata for the Conferment Ceremony of 1894
Coronation Cantata · Academic March · Andante festivo · Finlandia
Soile Isokoski, soprano
Jaakko Kortekangas, baritone
Finnish Philharmonic Chorus
Helsinki Philharmonic Orchestra
Leif Segerstam, conductor
Track listing
7 tracks · 58:06Listen to samples on selected tracks.
Jean Sibelius
- 1 Academic March (1919) 3:40
- Cantata for the Conferment Ceremony of 1894 24:14
- 2 I. Molto Maestoso ed adagio 7:43
- 3 II. Allegro assai - Maestoso (alla marcia) 16:30
- 4 Andante festivo (1922) 3:44
- Coronation Cantata (1896) 17:13
- 5 I. Allegro 7:26
- 6 II. Allegro 9:47
- 7 Finlandia, Op. 26/7 (1899) 9:16
About this recording
This recording contains five works Jean Sibelius wrote on commission for festive events, including his famous Finlanda, Andante festivo and Academic March, as well as world première recordings of two academic cantatas, performed by the Finnish Philharmonic Choir and the Helsinki Philharmonic Orchestra under the direction of Leif Segerstam.
As acting music teacher of the Helsinki University, Sibelius was commissioned to write and conduct the Cantata for the Conferment Ceremony 1894, to a festive poem by Kasimir Leino. Its second movement contains soloist roles performed by soprano Soile Isokoski and baritone Jaakko Kortekangas.
Sibelius's second cantata, to a text by Paavo Cajander, had not been heard since its first performance at the Finnish celebration in honour of the coronation of Nicholas II (as Tsar of Russia and Grand Duke of Finland) in 1896.
Features
Booklet with extensive liner notes in English, German, French, Swedish and Finnish, and the sung texts in the original Finnish and in English
Press
Under the circumstances any recording that opens up two major works of Sibelius would be welcomed. But this can be firmly recommended on all accounts.
Carl Bauman, American Record Guide, July 2000
Soile Isokoski and Jaakko Kortekangas are excellent soioists and the performances generally are admirable. Segerstam gives a very convincing account of Finlandia and the other two pieces.
Robert Layton, BBC Music Magazine, March 2000, Performance / Sound
The artists
Soile Isokoski
Soile Isokoski is recognized as one of the world's finest lyric sopranos. After graduating from the Sibelius Academy, she gave her début recital in Helsinki in 1986 and subsequently won a number of important international singing competitions. She made her début at the Finnish National Opera as Mimì in Puccini's La Bohème and has since delighted audiences and critics alike at opera houses in Vienna, Berlin, Munich, Hamburg, London, Milan and Paris, at The Metropolitan Opera and at music festivals in Salzburg, Savonlinna, Edinburgh and Orange.
Finnish Philharmonic Chorus
The Finnish Philharmonic Chorus is an independent organisation of around 150 singers selected from all over the country. The Chorus was established in 1979 as the Opera Festival Chorus for the Savonlinna Opera Festival where it sang until 1992. In 1995 the ensemble changed its name to better suit to its present vocation.
Helsinki Philharmonic Orchestra
The Helsinki Philharmonic Orchestra, the first professional symphony orchestra to be founded in the Nordic countries (1882), has grown from a band of 36 players to an orchestra of 102 regular members.