{"id":1301,"date":"2002-09-20T05:36:35","date_gmt":"2002-09-20T03:36:35","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/erso.ee\/plaadid\/jean-sibelius-maiden-in-the-tower-paavo-jarvi-virgin-classics-2002\/"},"modified":"2002-09-27T08:01:05","modified_gmt":"2002-09-27T06:01:05","slug":"jean-sibelius-maiden-in-the-tower-paavo-jarvi-virgin-classics-2002","status":"publish","type":"plaadid","link":"https:\/\/erso.ee\/en\/records\/jean-sibelius-maiden-in-the-tower-paavo-jarvi-virgin-classics-2002\/","title":{"rendered":"JEAN SIBELIUS – Maiden in the Tower. Paavo J\u00e4rvi. Virgin Classics 2002"},"content":{"rendered":"

Virgin Classics<\/a> 2002<\/strong>
\nVirgin 5454932<\/p>\n

Solveig Kringelborn (soprano, Norway)
\nLilli Paasikivi (mezzosoprano, Finland)
\nLars-Erik Jonsson (tenor, Sweden)
\nGarry Magee (baritone, England)
\nEllerhein Girls’ Choir
\nEstonian National Male Choir
\n(chorus-masters\u00a0Tiia-Ester Loitme and Ants Soots)
\nEstonian National Symphony Orchestra
\nConductor PAAVO J\u00c4RVI<\/p>\n

Jean Sibelius (1865\u20131957)<\/h3>\n

“Jungfrun i tornet” (“Maiden in the Tower”) (36:40)
\n“Pell\u00e9as ja M\u00e9lisande”, incidental music, Op. 46 (25:46)
\n“Valse triste (4:47)<\/h4>\n

REVIEWS<\/h1>\n

Though Sibelius had connections with the theatre all his life, writing such colourful incidental music as the nine atmospheric pieces for Maeterlinck’s Pell\u00e9as et M\u00e9lisande, he completed only one opera, and that only 35 minutes long. The Maiden in the Tower is a lightweight work compared to his symphonies, not helped by its sloppy story. Yet from the very start of the Overture, through the eight miniature scenes, Sibelius’s signature is on every bar, rising to a superb climax in the love duet. Paavo Jarvi inspires his Estonian-Finnish forces to a magnetic performance, with Solveig Kringelborn fresh-toned in the title role; Garry Magee as the Bailiff and Lars-Erik Jonsson as the Lover are cleanly focused, too.<\/p>\n

(The Guardian)
\nRead<\/a><\/p>\n

\n

Fans of Arvo Part’s gorgeous brand of minimalism–all soft, neo-medieval and tintinablular–will be enormously surprised by this program. The six pieces were composed before his re-examination and re-emergence in 1976, after a five-year period of silence. They are what one thinks of when one thinks of a certain variety of fascinating, if noisy and vaguely unpleasant “modern” music, the type of work one expects to hear led by Pierre Boulez. In other words, we are dealing here with atonality, experimentalism, and serialism. There are huge sonic clusters designed to upset, and statements about music are made by the music itself. The opening piece, Pro & Contra, essentially a concerto for cello, begins with a lovely D major chord which is immediately followed by a huge crash of dissonance; it is shocking and it ismeant to be. The Second Symphony features the sounds of kid’s squeaky toys. The brief piece from Part’s student period, “Meie aed,” is for girl’s choir and is entirely gentle and tonal–a grand piece of Soviet goodness. “Perpetuum Mobile” is a seven-minute crescendo which can knock you off your seat. The playing and singing, under Paavo Jarvi, are spectacular. In brief, this is not the Part you’ve come to know and love, but it’s fascinating to hear what he was like before he became who he was.<\/p>\n

(Robert Levine. www.amazon.com)
\nLoe l\u00e4hemalt<\/a><\/p>\n

\n

The Maiden in the Tower makes its second and finest appearance on disc<\/strong><\/p>\n

Sibelius completed his only opera, The Maiden in the Tower, during the autumn of 1896. Not that it was his first operatic effort: two years previously, he had been hard at work on a project entitled The Building of the Boat, but, after visits to Bayreuth and Munich (where he heard Tristan), he abandoned his own stage-work. Despite a feeble libretto and some decidedly wan inspiration during its 36-minute span, The Maiden in the Tower proved a great success at its Helsinki premiere and contains fascinating pre-echoes by the powerful sense of line and demandingly wide range of the vocal writing for the heroine during the first two scenes. Scene 3 boasts choral writing of real charm and open-air freshness, and much of the Lover\u2019s music in scene 4 and the ensuing, et times oddly Puccini-style, duet is memorable by any standards. The orchestral interlude which links the first two scenes also casts a potent spell.
\nPaavo J\u00e4rvi\u2019s new account compares favourably with his father Neeme\u2019s world premiere recording on BIS. Like her predecessor Mari-Anne H\u00e4ggander, Solveig Kringelborn copes valiantly with Sibelius\u2019s occasionally stratospheric demands, and if Garry Magee is not quite as eloquent as was Jorma Hynninen, there\u2019s otherwise little to choose between the two performances. Paavo J\u00e4rvi\u2019s assembled Estonian forces seem to enjoy the whole experience, and the recording is extremely vivid without being exceptional (BIS\u2019s earlier, more truthfully balanced production benefits from the glorious acoustic of Gothenburg Concert Hall).<\/p>\n

As for couplings, Neeme J\u00e4rvi presides over a stately, slightly sluggish Karelia Suite, whereas J\u00e4rvi fils offers rather more generous measure in the shape of a beguiling, strongly characterised Valse triste and the concert suite from Pell\u00e9as and M\u00e9lisande. In the latter, the sparks don\u2019t fly quite as abundantly as they do under Ollila, but J\u00e4rvi gives a similarly refreshing, unsentimental interpretation, and his useful Tallinn band responds in shapely, committed fashion. In both \u2018M\u00e9lisande\u2019 and \u2018Pastorale\u2019 some will rightly crave just a touch more in the way of fragrant poetry; the \u2018Death of M\u00e9lisande\u2019, too, lacks the necessary wistful pathos. Elsewhere, J\u00e4rvi\u2019s eagle-eyed, often broodingly atmospheric conception serves up plenty of food for thought.<\/p>\n

To the best of my knowledge, Decca has never reissued Horst Stein\u2019s sensitive rendering of the P\u00e9lleas Suite with the Suisse Romande Orchestra (coupled with the Prelude and First Suite from The Tempest on a stunningly engineered LP, 8\/79 \u2013 nla), while Beecham\u2019s incomparable 1955 RPO account is currently languishing in EMI\u2019s vaults (7\/62 \u2013 nla; a reissue soon, please!). Nor would I want to be without V\u00e4nsk\u00e4\u2019s absorbing realisation of the complete original score (BIS, 6\/99). In the meantime, despite any minor reservations, a warm welcome to this enterprising release.<\/p>\n

(Andrew Achenbach. Gramophone.\u00a04\/2002)<\/p>\n

\n

This short one-act opera may not be top-drawer Sibelius, but no previous encounters with the work \u2013 in live performance and on disk \u2013 had prepared me for the appreciable impact it makes here. The story remains problematic, and Sibelius grew to realise that in his only complete opera he had wasted some good music on a conventional tale.<\/p>\n

Based on a popular Swedish ballad, the opera tells of an innocent maiden, accosted and imprisoned in a castle tower by the bailiff, disowned by her father in the belief that she has \u2018lost her honour for gold\u2019, but saved by her lover and the timely arrival of the chatelaine. From the opening bars, the music is unmistakably Sibelius in his lighter vein, and the beguilingly balletic overture recalls the Karelia Suite. Solveig Kringelborn sings glowingly in the title role, and is haunting in her prayer. Garry Magee performs strongly as the baddie, and Lars-Erik Jonsson is sincere as her rescuer. Paavo J\u00e4rvi makes a more compelling case for the score than his father Neeme managed on his world premiere recording of nearly 20 years ago.<\/p>\n

Pell\u00e9as et M\u00e9lisande reminds us that the list of composers attracted to Maeterlinck\u2019s play does not end with Debussy, Schoenberg or Faur\u00e9. Sibelius\u2019s incidental music, along with another piece with origins in the theatre, Valse triste, receives an eloquent performance from these Estonian forces.<\/p>\n

(BBC Music Magazine. John Allison)<\/p>\n

\n

Omena puun \u00e4\u00e4rell\u00e4<\/strong>
\n– Kuukauden klassinen levy –<\/p>\n

Suomenlahden etel\u00e4puolella klassisella musiikilla menee kovaa! Juuri kun p\u00e4\u00e4sin ylist\u00e4m\u00e4st\u00e4 Talin sisaruksia ja heid\u00e4n orkesteriaan, t\u00e4ytyy ylistyslaulua jatkaa entist\u00e4 voimakkaammin. Kapellimestari Paavo “Neemenpoika” J\u00e4rvi on n\u00e4et levytt\u00e4nyt cd:llisen Jean Sibeliuksen (1865-1957) musiikkia Viron kansallisen sinfoniaorkesterin kanssa, erinomaisella lopputuloksella. Levyn teoksista varsinkin Sibeliuksen ainoa “ooppera”, Jungfrun i tornet (Neito tornissa) on mit\u00e4 erinomaisin: kapellimestarilla on oivallinen n\u00e4kemys teoksesta, orkesteri soittaa antaumuksella, ja solistijoukko – loisteliaimpina mezzosopraano Lilli Paasikivi ja sopraano Solveig Kringelborn \u2013 sek\u00e4 kuoro esiintyv\u00e4t mestarillisesti.<\/p>\n

Paavo J\u00e4rvi tuntee t\u00e4ydellisesti Sibeliuksensa, eik\u00e4 h\u00e4n j\u00e4\u00e4 Sibelius-tulkkina lainkaan is\u00e4ns\u00e4 Neemen jalkoihin. Levyn muut teokset, Pell\u00e9as et M\u00e9lisande sek\u00e4 Valse triste, vahvistavat asian: Paavo J\u00e4rvi on nauttinut Sibeliustaan jo \u00e4idinmaidossaan. Varauksetta suositeltava cd!<\/p>\n

(Ralf Hermans. Kauppalehti Optio. 10\/ 2002)<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Virgin Classics 2002 Virgin 5454932 Solveig Kringelborn (soprano, Norway) Lilli Paasikivi (mezzosoprano, Finland) Lars-Erik Jonsson (tenor, Sweden) Garry Magee (baritone, England) Ellerhein Girls’ Choir Estonian National Male Choir (chorus-masters\u00a0Tiia-Ester Loitme and Ants Soots) Estonian National Symphony Orchestra Conductor PAAVO J\u00c4RVI Jean Sibelius (1865\u20131957) “Jungfrun i tornet” (“Maiden in the Tower”) (36:40) “Pell\u00e9as ja M\u00e9lisande”, incidental […]\n","protected":false},"featured_media":1066,"template":"","class_list":["post-1301","plaadid","type-plaadid","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","hentry"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/erso.ee\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/plaadid\/1301","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/erso.ee\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/plaadid"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/erso.ee\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/plaadid"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/erso.ee\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1066"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/erso.ee\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1301"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}