Sallinen's Navigations

cassandra · July 09, 2011, 02:29:57 PM

Did anybody in the UK see "The King Goes Forth to France" when it was done at the RoH way, way back in the 80's I think (and with my memory not being what it was, don't expect accuracy). I remember the staging was imaginative, and the work came over as good stage music. It was also somewhat "modern-ish" in places, but at least it didn't scare the horses. Anybody else have a memory of it, and maybe jog mine along a bit?

Although I have the Ondine recording, I haven't listened to it that often.

vandermolen · April 12, 2012, 07:38:33 AM

Thought I should hear more Sallinen and found this CD cheap second hand on Amazon.

I am especially liking Symphony No 4 - a troubled and darkly eloquent work, reminding me in places of a kind of Nordic Prokofiev (Shostakovich and Kokkonen also came to mind and Sumera in the last movement of the symphony). Immediately I got to the end of the Symphony I wanted to listen again. It is approachable but not unchallenging and seems to inhabit a rather ambivalent emotional world, which appeals to me.

Can't get picture to load but it is a Finlandia CD with Symphony 4, Cello Concerto and Shadows featured (Helsinki PO, Okko Kamu, Arto Noras, Cello).

Karl Henning · April 12, 2012, 07:44:28 AM

His perch, eh? And what of his steelhead trout?

Carry on . . . .

snyprrr · April 12, 2012, 08:05:06 AM

Quote from: vandermolen on April 12, 2012, 07:38:33 AM
Thought I should hear more Sallinen and found this CD cheap second hand on Amazon.

I am especially liking Symphony No 4 - a troubled and darkly eloquent work, reminding me in places of a kind of Nordic Prokofiev (Shostakovich and Kokkonen also came to mind and Sumera in the last movement of the symphony). Immediately I got to the end of the Symphony I wanted to listen again. It is approachable but not unchallenging and seems to inhabit a rather ambivalent emotional world, which appeals to me.

Can't get picture to load but it is a Finlandia CD with Symphony 4, Cello Concerto and Shadows featured (Helsinki PO, Okko Kamu, Arto Noras, Cello).

I almost wish you'd have gotten the BIS with 4-5. Let's see if any Sallinen is under $5...

vandermolen · April 12, 2012, 11:41:21 AM

Quote from: snyprrr on April 12, 2012, 08:05:06 AM
I almost wish you'd have gotten the BIS with 4-5. Let's see if any Sallinen is under $5...

Is the BIS a better performance?

not edward · April 12, 2012, 11:50:57 AM

Quote from: vandermolen on April 12, 2012, 07:38:33 AM
Thought I should hear more Sallinen and found this CD cheap second hand on Amazon.

I am especially liking Symphony No 4 - a troubled and darkly eloquent work, reminding me in places of a kind of Nordic Prokofiev (Shostakovich and Kokkonen also came to mind and Sumera in the last movement of the symphony). Immediately I got to the end of the Symphony I wanted to listen again. It is approachable but not unchallenging and seems to inhabit a rather ambivalent emotional world, which appeals to me.

Can't get picture to load but it is a Finlandia CD with Symphony 4, Cello Concerto and Shadows featured (Helsinki PO, Okko Kamu, Arto Noras, Cello).

This was available for a while as part of a Finlandia Meet the Composer 2-CD set that added the 5th symphony, the orchestral version of the 3rd quartet and Chamber Music I and III. The other two CDs cannibalized for the 2-CD set are on Amazon, though.

As for the music, those three works are a great Sallinen sampler; I'd agree with the symphony's Shostakovichian and Kokkonen's influences, though every bar sounds like Sallinen to me. I'm probably even fonder of the cello concerto, which to my mind pulls off a very unusual structure very successfully: 20' slow movement followed by a 7' fast finale that dissipates the tension of the slow movement. Fabulous playing from Noras--one of my favourite 'cellists--in it, of course.

I'll leave it up to others to debate the merits of these recordings versus the cpo ones; I recall preferring Kamu last time I compared them in the 4th. The BIS with DePriest is very competitive too, to my mind, and the BIS soundscape suits the music very well.

snyprrr · July 16, 2013, 07:58:18 AM

That CPO Box gets more and more tempting.

snyprrr · July 22, 2014, 07:47:15 AM

Quote from: snyprrr on July 16, 2013, 07:58:18 AM
That CPO Box gets more and more tempting.

I'm almost ready. I haven't heard anything negative, as compared to BIS, or otherwise. I await just some final confirmation.

Brian · September 22, 2014, 04:53:13 AM

BIS CEO Robert von Bahr strikes again with his eClassical daily deal commentary:

"A bassoon player, who had made some sotto voce comments before, stood up, more or less shouting: This cannot be right! I have an F#, but the oboe has an F natural. So which is it??? Whereupon Sallinen, very calmly, stood up in front of the orchestra, saying: Dear xxx, it is called a dissonance. Raucous laughter, noone could play for quite some time."

snyprrr · September 22, 2014, 07:03:06 AM

Quote from: Brian on September 22, 2014, 04:53:13 AM
BIS CEO Robert von Bahr strikes again with his eClassical daily deal commentary:

"A bassoon player, who had made some sotto voce comments before, stood up, more or less shouting: This cannot be right! I have an F#, but the oboe has an F natural. So which is it??? Whereupon Sallinen, very calmly, stood up in front of the orchestra, saying: Dear xxx, it is called a dissonance. Raucous laughter, noone could play for quite some time."

That's the second "stupid musician" quote we've seen here lately. I'm starting to think that people who play anything other than a chordal instrument for a living are just shit for brains?

btw- great CD

I still haven't got the Box yet,- just got the Sibelius Tone Poems,- working my way up to it-

I do somewhat miss that BIS disc with 4 and 5...

not edward · January 17, 2015, 03:29:01 PM

This looks like a useful update to the limited selection of recordings of Sallinen's chamber music:

[asin]B00Q5W3CK2[/asin]

Arto Noras and Ralf Gothoni on the artist list sounds promising too.

snyprrr · January 17, 2015, 10:05:42 PM

Quote from: edward on January 17, 2015, 03:29:01 PM
This looks like a useful update to the limited selection of recordings of Sallinen's chamber music:

[asin]B00Q5W3CK2[/asin]

Arto Noras and Ralf Gothoni on the artist list sounds promising too.

I still haven't got The Box.

It went up in price as I was over-deliberating,... mm,... happens,...

The new erato · January 17, 2015, 11:58:29 PM

Quote from: edward on January 17, 2015, 03:29:01 PM
This looks like a useful update to the limited selection of recordings of Sallinen's chamber music:

[asin]B00Q5W3CK2[/asin]

Arto Noras and Ralf Gothoni on the artist list sounds promising too.

I have all the cpo Sallinen as single discs and love them. Finlands greatest symphonist since Sibelius IMO. I will definitely get this disc too sooner or later.

North Star · January 18, 2015, 02:05:30 AM

Quote from: edward on January 17, 2015, 03:29:01 PM
This looks like a useful update to the limited selection of recordings of Sallinen's chamber music:

Arto Noras and Ralf Gothoni on the artist list sounds promising too.

And Vähälä is a rather nice violinist, even if her Strad turned out to be an Amati.

snyprrr · October 01, 2015, 03:20:34 PM

Cello Concerto (1977)

Again, can anyone give me five paragraphs on this, perhaps especially how it compares with the Holmboe, which you prefer, perhaps? Thanks!