Sibelius: Karelia, Kuolema & Valse Triste

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This is a disc which will be of great interest to Sibelians. The original score of the Karelia music was discovered in the conductor Kajanus's library after his death in 1933 and his widow returned... — Gramophone Classical Music Guide, 2010 More…

Release Date: 1st Oct 1997
Catalogue No: BISCD915
Label: BIS
Series: Sibelius Edition
Length: 75 minutes

Usually despatched in 3 - 4 working days

Sibelius: Karelia, JS 115

Work length3:45

$1.00

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Sinfonia Lahti
Osmo Vänskä

Overture

Track length3:45

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Sibelius: Karelia, JS 115, Tableau 1 "A Karelian Home. News of War"

Work length3:42

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Sinfonia Lahti
Osmo Vänskä

Sibelius: Karelia, JS 115, Tableau 2 "The Founding of Viipuri Castle"

Work length3:20

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Sinfonia Lahti
Osmo Vänskä

Sibelius: Karelia, JS 115, Tableau 3 "Narimont, the Duke of Lithuania, Levying Taxes in the Province of Kakisalmi"

Work length5:24

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$3.00

Sinfonia Lahti
Osmo Vänskä

Allegro

Track length4:29

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Intermezzo I

Track length0:55

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Sibelius: Karelia, JS 115, Tableau 4 "Karl Knutsson in Viipuri Castle"

Work length2:27

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Raimo Laukka
Sinfonia Lahti
Osmo Vänskä

Ballade

Track length2:27

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Sibelius: Karelia, JS 115, Tableau 5 "Pontus de la Gardie at the Gates of Kakisalmi in 1580"

Work length10:21

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$3.80

Sinfonia Lahti
Osmo Vänskä

Moderato, ma non lento

Track length2:04

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Intermezzo II

Track length8:17

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Sibelius: Karelia, JS 115, Tableau 6 "The Siege of Viipuri"

Work length1:28

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Sinfonia Lahti
Osmo Vänskä

Sibelius: Karelia, JS 115, Tableaux 7 & 8 "The Reunion of Old Finland with the Rest of Finland"

Work length13:02

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$3.80

Sinfonia Lahti
Osmo Vänskä

Andante ma non troppo lento

Track length3:49

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Vivace molto

Track length9:13

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Sibelius: Kuolema, JS 113, Scene I

Work length3:17

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Raimo Laukka, Kirsi Tiihonen
Lahti Symphony Orchestra
Osmo Vänskä

Sibelius: Kuolema, JS 113, Scene II - Paavali's Song

Work length4:12

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$1.50

Raimo Laukka, Kirsi Tiihonen
Lahti Symphony Orchestra
Osmo Vänskä

"Pakkanen puhurin poika" (Jack Frost, son of the icy north wind)

Track length4:12

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Sibelius: Kuolema, JS 113, Scene III - Elas's Song

Work length6:36

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Raimo Laukka, Kirsi Tiihonen
Lahti Symphony Orchestra
Osmo Vänskä

"Eilaa, eilaa"

Track length6:36

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Sibelius: Kuolema, JS 113, Scene IV

Work length2:24

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Raimo Laukka, Kirsi Tiihonen
Lahti Symphony Orchestra
Osmo Vänskä

Sibelius: Kuolema, JS 113, Scene V

Work length3:09

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Raimo Laukka, Kirsi Tiihonen
Lahti Symphony Orchestra
Osmo Vänskä

Sibelius: Kuolema, JS 113, Scene VI

Work length7:12

$1.50

$2.30

Raimo Laukka, Kirsi Tiihonen
Lahti Symphony Orchestra
Osmo Vänskä

Excerpt, Sibelius: Kuolema, Op. 44

Work length4:46

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Lahti Symphony Orchestra
Osmo Vänskä

Valse triste, Op. 44, No. 1

Track length4:46

$1.00

$1.50

Reviews
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Reviews

2010

This is a disc which will be of great interest to Sibelians. The original score of the Karelia music was discovered in the conductor Kajanus's library after his death in 1933 and his widow returned it to Sibelius three years later. The music extended to eight tableaux which portrayed various episodes in Karelian history. In the 1940s Sibelius destroyed the score, about which he had had second thoughts since its premiere in 1893, sparing only the overture, the movements familiar from the suite and the first number, 'A Karelian Home – News of War'.
Fortunately for posterity, a set of orchestral parts came to light, albeit incomplete, and were put into shape by Kalevi Kuoso. It was these that the composer Kalevi Aho used in preparing the edition on which this recording is based.
In all there are some 40 minutes of music, over half of which is new. Those familiar with the 'Ballade' from the Op 11 Suite will no doubt be slightly disconcerted to hear the familiar cor anglais melody taken by a baritone and will find the piece too long in its original form. The opening of the fifth tableau, 'Pontus de la Gardie at the gates of Käkisalmi [Kexholm Castle] in 1580', is highly effective and leads into the famous 'Alla marcia'. It's fascinating to hear what the piece is like, and what Sibelius was prepared to lose. Listening to this reaffirms and illumines both the sureness of his artistic judgement and the vitality of his creative imagination. Sibelius's incidental music to Kuolema, the play by his brother-in-law, Arvid Järnefelt, dates from 1903. The most familiar music from it is the Valse triste, which Sibelius revised the following year, adding flute, clarinet, horns and timpani and making it altogether more sophisticated harmonically and melodically.
Osmo Vänskä and his Lahti players prove reliable and responsive guides in this atmospheric music and it's hard to imagine their performances being improved on. Wide-ranging and expertly balanced recorded sound.

Sibelius: Karelia, Kuolema & Valse Triste

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