Sibelius - Tapiola, En Saga, 8 Songs

The Guardian 80

Von Otter/Finnish Radio SO/Lintu
(Ondine)

Here is another addition to the flood of high-calibre Sibelius recordings prompted by the composer’s 150th anniversary two years ago. To mark that occasion, Finland’s current grand old man of composition, Aulis Sallinen picked eight of Sibelius’s songs and reworked the piano parts for orchestra. The voice he had in mind was Anne Sofie von Otter’s and she sings them beautifully here. Sallinen strikes a skilful balance between a dark, typically Sibelian soundworld and something supportive of von Otter’s mezzo-soprano, with its easy poise and natural flow; The Kiss’s Hope – the voice supported by a single thread, gossamer glitter overhead – is especially striking. The songs’ relative leanness comes as a breath of fresh air after the two tone poems that precede them. Following an expectant beginning, Tapiola finds conductor Hannu Lintu drawing deep, velvet tone from his Helsinki orchestra, and En Saga sounds vivid and ultimately almost cinematic.