CD Review: Scenes from the Kalevala (Lahti SO / Dima Slobodeniouk) BIS2371

Finland’s national identity owes an enormous debt to the Kalevala, an epic poem first printed in 1835. Its influence was to bear fruit particularly in the music of Jean Sibelius; indeed, can you imagine Sibelius’ oeuvre without it? Probably not, if you’re being really honest.

It is no surprise then that a recording of four works by four composers drawing influence from the Kalevala should feature Sibelius. However, his Lemminkäinen in Tuonela is programmed third and not in it is not as you may know it, as the original 1897 version receives its first recording. Herein BIS plugs a hole as this version was omitted from their must-have 13 disc Sibelius edition.  Sibelius’ first thoughts are revealed as more expansive than his later revisions and perhaps occasionally he loses focus. Critics were scornful at the time, but the work is by no means a total dud. In reducing down the music to its essence in his later revisions, Sibelius gave it heft. Listening to the excellent Lahti Symphony Orchestra under Dima Slobodeniouk’s baton I sporadically feel the weightiness ever-so-slightly lacking too.

The three other composers recorded here are most likely not household names, well, not outside Finland at any rate, and more’s the pity. Leevi Madetoja (1887-1947) wrote his tone poem Kullervo in 1913, and drew on aspects on the Kalevala that inspired Sibelius’ work of the same name. That said, as Kimmo Korhonen makes clear in his excellent liner notes, Madetoja sought to differentiate his dramatic work from those of his compatriots. There are other recordings available – I have not heard them – but in listening to Dima Slobodeniouk’s reading, I particularly enjoy the way he draws out the individual instrumental lines in the orchestration. BIS’ demonstration quality recording aids matters no end. Uuno Klami (1900-1961) penned his five movement Kalevala Suite in 1943. Written with the express aim of putting clear water between himself and Sibelius; its starting point is nearer Stravinsky’s The Firebird and The Rite of Spring. That said, imagine it as a watercolour rather than a full-blooded oil painting in The Creation of the World movement. There’s variety in the moods too: the delicate and shaded Cradle Song for Lemminkäinen provides contrast amongst the movements that are not always of a consistent inspirational level. Tauno Pylkkänen’s ten-minute Kullervo Goes to War (1942) is an orchestral tour-de-force from a 24-year old composer who fully realises the drama of his subject. Dima Slobodeniouk and his Lahti forces revel in the power and passion to turn in a fully persuasive and enjoyable reading.