Kullervo
Product ID: 31453472
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The 80-minute work, performed by the Atlanta Symphony Orchestra and the men from the Atlanta Symphony Orchestra Chorus, with baritone Nathan Gunn and mezzo-soprano Charlotte Hellekant, was conducted by ASO Music Director Robert Spano and recorded at the Woodruff Arts Center in May. The all-volunteer Atlanta Symphony Orchestra Chorus learned Finnish in order to perform this piece. Jeff Baxter, assistant director of choruses in Atlanta and a tenor in the ASO chorus, began learning the language from a native speaker about a year ago, in preparation for training the chorus to sing the piece. The Finnish native speaker did not know music, so she intoned the syllables, and then Baxter and Director of Choruses Norman MacKenzie made a phonetic translation. The chorus undertook months of preparation, including drilling on Monday nights on the language alone. Kullervo is a powerful figure from the Kalevala, the epic Finnish saga composed of 50 poems compiled by Elias Lönnrot, a physician and folklorist who traveled throughout the Finnish-Russian borderlands recording the lyrics, stories, and ballads sung to him by rural people. Born with magical powers, Kullervo was raised as an orphan by his tribe's enemies. As a young man, Kullervo finds his family, who thought he was dead, but learns that his sister is missing. Because he is inept at farm tasks, Kullervo is sent off to pay the family's taxes. On his return he seduces a beautiful maiden who, they both discover, is his long-lost sister. In horror and shame, she kills herself, Kullervo goes to battle, and finally kills himself as well. Sibelius's music for this dark tale abounds with the rhythms and meters of Finnish folk music, which captures the poetry's brooding sense of hard lives with the ever-present spectre of tragedy. Intent on making this composition - his first large-scale orchestral work - "thoroughly Finnish in spirit," Sibelius traveled to the coastal town of Porvoo to hear Larin Paraske, the famed female folksinger, perform Finnish laments and runes in order to internalize the rugged, archaic style. "What really impressed me was the chorus," said Producer Elaine Martone. "They gave 150 percent, molding the phrases and singing with such passion and beauty that it took my breath away. On Sunday, at about 3:30 (the midway point of the recording) there was such a level of excitement that I felt completely out-of-body." American-born Nathan Gunn, who sings the role of Kullervo, is one of today's most exciting and in-demand baritones. Most recently he sang the roles of Clyde Griffiths in the world premiere of An American Tragedy and Papageno in Die Zauberflöte at the Metropolitan Opera and Ottone in L'Incoronazione de Poppea with Houston Grand Opera. He also appears regularly with Chicago Lyric Opera, Santa Fe Opera, Seattle Opera, and Glimmerglass, and in Europe he has performed with the Bayerische Staatsoper, Paris National Opera, and the Royal Opera at Covent Garden. Mr. Gunn's orchestral engagements have included performances with the Boston, Chicago, and London Symphonies, The Cleveland Orchestra, and the New York Philharmonic. Mr. Gunn has appeared on another Telarc release, as baritone soloist on the Brahms German Requiem with the Mormon Tabernacle Choir. Swedish mezzo-soprano Charlotte Hellekant, who sings the role of Kullervo's sister on this recording, appears extensively on both the opera and concert stage and has been highly praised as an interpreter of contemporary music. She has performed in America and Europe in such opera houses as Deutsche Oper Berlin, Glyndebourne, English National, Glimmerglass, the Metropolitan Opera, Paris National Opera, Washington National Opera, among others. Highlights of her concert appearances include engagements with Orchestre de Paris conducted by Sir Georg Solti, the NDR Orchester with Christoph Eschenbach and the Orchestre de Paris led by Paavo Järvi. This recording of Kullervo is Robert Spano's seventh with the orchestra. Among them, Vaughan Williams' Sea Symphony, Berlioz Requiem, and Jennifer Higdon's City Scape have received a total of five GRAMMY Awards. Mr. Spano's other Telarc albums with the ASO are Rainbow Body featuring works by Christopher Theofanidis and Jennifer Higdon; Rimsky-Korsakov's Scheherazade; and a disc of world premiere recordings of works by David del Tredici and Christopher Theofanidis and "Lamentation" from one of Leonard Bernstein's earliest works, Symphony No. 1 (Jeremiah). During the upcoming season, Mr. Spano is scheduled to record two new discs for Telarc: Michael Gandolfi's Garden of Cosmic Speculation paired with Jennifer Higdon's Dooryard Bloom and an album of works by Vaughan Williams. Review: Finest sound in Telarc's history - Bob Woods and the boys and girls out there on the shore of Lake Erie have created some great sounding recordings in their day but none better than [as good as?] Jean Sibelius's Kullervo. Atlanta's Symphony Hall is virtually a second home to these Ohioans, and they've got its sound down to a tee. I admit I was not familiar with the work, a youthful composition played in its entirety but once in the composer's life. Probably the mature Sibelius would have written it differently, but here and there you get a glimpse of the 2nd Symphony or Finlandia that would eventually emerge from his pen. I need to spend some more time with young Mr. S's piece to gain full appreciation, but it is quite accessible on first hearing. Its form is hard to classify. The multi-movement format lends itself to being called a symphony, but given the heroic program on which it's based, symphonic poem would be closer to the truth. And how many classical pieces have you ever heard that have incest at the core of its program? (For the squeamish, it didn't happen on purpose.) The Atlanta Symphony's playing gets better every year, and this recording is no exception. Is the SACD worth the additional money? First, of course, you have to have an SACD-capable player, and, to take advantage of the surround channels, you have to have at least a four-channel system. (Five is better.) Frankly, unless you have a very fine audio system, you are unlikely to discern much sonic difference other than the surround experience. But if you do have quality gear, it is definitely worth the few extra bucks because SACD reproduces violins and soprano voices more accurately than in the standard CD world. Review: A Fine Rendition - and No Finns Involved! - Admittedly I've only listened to it once, though by now I'm quite familiar with Kullervo. Going in, I knew that everyone involved - the Atlanta Symphony, conductor Spano, the soloists - is excellent. The Big Question was how the men of the ASO Chorus would handle the Finnishtext. The other two recordings by American orchestras (Salonen/LAPO and Vanska/Minnesota (just released)) employ the great YL Male Voice Choir of Helsinki. But the Atlanta Symphony, going back to the days of Robert Shaw, is renowned for its great chorus and extensive discography of choral works, so they certainly weren't going to yield to an outside group. I'm no expert on Finnish pronunciation, but they seem to have embraced the challenge and acquitted themselves honorably. The orchestral playing is superb throughout, and the sound up to the usual Telarc high standard. I'm not going to say it's the best I've heard, but every version I've heard is good. Still, if you want to get a sense of the drama and occasion, check out the video of Jukka-Pekka Saraste and the Finnish RSO on YouTube (a concert performance from 2002).
D**T
Finest sound in Telarc's history
Bob Woods and the boys and girls out there on the shore of Lake Erie have created some great sounding recordings in their day but none better than [as good as?] Jean Sibelius's Kullervo. Atlanta's Symphony Hall is virtually a second home to these Ohioans, and they've got its sound down to a tee. I admit I was not familiar with the work, a youthful composition played in its entirety but once in the composer's life. Probably the mature Sibelius would have written it differently, but here and there you get a glimpse of the 2nd Symphony or Finlandia that would eventually emerge from his pen. I need to spend some more time with young Mr. S's piece to gain full appreciation, but it is quite accessible on first hearing. Its form is hard to classify. The multi-movement format lends itself to being called a symphony, but given the heroic program on which it's based, symphonic poem would be closer to the truth. And how many classical pieces have you ever heard that have incest at the core of its program? (For the squeamish, it didn't happen on purpose.) The Atlanta Symphony's playing gets better every year, and this recording is no exception. Is the SACD worth the additional money? First, of course, you have to have an SACD-capable player, and, to take advantage of the surround channels, you have to have at least a four-channel system. (Five is better.) Frankly, unless you have a very fine audio system, you are unlikely to discern much sonic difference other than the surround experience. But if you do have quality gear, it is definitely worth the few extra bucks because SACD reproduces violins and soprano voices more accurately than in the standard CD world.
M**V
A Fine Rendition - and No Finns Involved!
Admittedly I've only listened to it once, though by now I'm quite familiar with Kullervo. Going in, I knew that everyone involved - the Atlanta Symphony, conductor Spano, the soloists - is excellent. The Big Question was how the men of the ASO Chorus would handle the Finnishtext. The other two recordings by American orchestras (Salonen/LAPO and Vanska/Minnesota (just released)) employ the great YL Male Voice Choir of Helsinki. But the Atlanta Symphony, going back to the days of Robert Shaw, is renowned for its great chorus and extensive discography of choral works, so they certainly weren't going to yield to an outside group. I'm no expert on Finnish pronunciation, but they seem to have embraced the challenge and acquitted themselves honorably. The orchestral playing is superb throughout, and the sound up to the usual Telarc high standard. I'm not going to say it's the best I've heard, but every version I've heard is good. Still, if you want to get a sense of the drama and occasion, check out the video of Jukka-Pekka Saraste and the Finnish RSO on YouTube (a concert performance from 2002).
R**E
Excellent Kullervo
A great recording of Sibelius's, formerly, unknown early Symphony, "Kullervo" from an unlikely source. I could have given this 5-stars if only for the exceptional audio quality. The performance may be a bit understated, but still highly enjoyable and offers a decent alternative to more highly charged accounts. The first time I heard this Spano recording I did not care for it at all, but after repeated listenings have come to appreciate it more and more. While there are other recordings of this long, rambling work I can recommend higher, anyone who has this CD really need not look further. That is, unless one happens to be an out-of-control fan of this music. Over the years, I have accumulated a goodly number of the recordings which have been made. Here is a discography of “Kullervo” with my comments and star rating of the recordings which I am familiar with (I am not certain regarding the present availability for a number of them): Jussi Jalas: Finnish Radio Orchestra, live performance of 12 June 1958. I believe this was the first performance of the work following its composer's death; Sibelius had not allowed it to be played during his life time. A non-commercial recording was released, it is probably very rare and I have never heard it. Paavo Berglund: Bournemouth Symphony, 1970, on E.M.I. (now Warner) The first commercial recording of this work, a touch-stone. Excellent recording (5-stars). Berglund: Helsinki Philharmonic, 1985, on E.M.I. A re-do by Berglund, a tighter performance in better sound, but it does not exceed his recording of 15 years prior which is to be preferred (4-stars). Note that both the Berglunds were made in conjunction with extensive series of Sibelius works and recordings of either might only be found in multi-CD collections. Neeme Järvi: Gothenburg Symphony, 1985, on BIS. Good overall, about the fastest tempi on any, but not a spectacular nor many other outstanding qualities. Still, a worthwhile recording (4-stars). Esa-Pekka Salonen: Los Angeles Philharmonic, 1992, on Sony. Exciting, great sound, and one of the best (5-stars). Also check out Salonen's recording of Sibelius's 'Four Legends' as a perfect companion disc to this one. Leif Segerstam: Danish National Radio Symphony, 1994, on Chandos. One of the best, perhaps my favorite, but I have not heard Segerstam’s 2nd version. This is one I would recommend to anyone who wants a single recording of the music (5-stars plus). Jukka-Pekka Saraste: Finnish Radio Symphony, 1996, on Finlandia. Some of the fastest tempi, performance less than 70 minutes. For some reason, this one never grabbed me and it strikes me as “slick” (3.5-stars). May be one of the harder discs to find as the Finlandia label is defunct. Jorma Panula: Turku Philharmonic, 1996, on Naxos. Have not heard. Paavo Järvi: Royal Stockholm Philharmonic, ca. 1997, on Virgin. Have not heard. Colin Davis: LSO, 1996, on RCA. The longest version at over 80 minutes, spread over 2 CDs. This recording never received many compliments, though, overall, I find it somewhat compelling. Not the best, but still a fine, if somewhat unusual, and enjoyable performance (4-stars). Osmo Vänskä: Lahti Symphony, 2000, on BIS. Over 80 minutes, highly esteemed and praised by many, but I find it greatly over-rated. The performance to me is rather weak, bland, and the sound is nothing to get excited about. Not a favorite (3-stars). Vänskä had a re-make, but I have not heard that one. Colin Davis: LSO, 2005, live on LSO’s own label. Tempi are more reasonable and in line with those heard from others, but sound is not as good as on his earlier version; nor is it as inspired. In spite of performance improvements here, I still find Davis’s earlier version the better (3-stars). Ari Rasilanen: Rheinland-Pfalz State Philharmonic, 2005, on CPO. Have not heard. Robert Spano: Atlanta Symphony, 2006, on Telarc. Not thrilled on first hearing, but repeated exposure has increased my appreciation (4-stars; maybe 4.5-stars would be a better assessment). Stunning in its own way. Acquire with caution as you may not like it. Segerstam: Helsinki Philharmonic, 2008, on Ondine. Have not heard this one, but Segerstam’s earlier version is just about my favorite. Reviews of this suggest it is probably on par with the earlier Chandos disc. Vänskä: Minnesota Orchestra, 2017, on BIS. Have not heard. I am not impressed with the earlier version but do not know if this one offers any improvement. Thomas Dausgaard: BBC Scottish Symphony, 2018, on Hyperion (4-stars). As noted above, good but variable. Hannu Lintu: Finnish Radio Symphony, released Oct. 2019, on Ondine. Brand new as of this writing, have not heard. Overall: Get one of those by Segerstam, Salonen, or the earlier Berglund. Those by Neeme Järvi and Robert Spano are also worthwhile, though maybe a bit more difficult to appreciate.
A**R
great SACD
Very nice SACD David and the Atlanta Symphony Orchestra did a great job on this one
N**Y
Don’t go by pic
Rated low because of Amazon error. Image for this CD is not accurate! I had hoped it was Rhapsody in Blue as pictured, but is not. Don’t be like me and order thinking it is.
A**D
Sheer Genius
One of the best renditions I have heard on SACD. Great recording. Nothing else needs to be said. Highly Recommend !
J**R
Five Stars
A+++++
H**S
This is a very good piece of music beautifully done.
But for my tastes it wasn't really the thing thought to be. Sibelius is excellent and so is the recording, it is just not the moving or spiritual vehicle pictured from the write-up. Harold Edward Wills
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