A day late and a dollar short. The story of my life!
The day after Jean Sibelius’ birthday anniversary, there’s plenty of cigar smoke in this six minutes of historic footage of the composer and his family, in and around their home, Ainola, located about 20 miles outside Helsinki.
I had the good fortune to enjoy a friendship with one of the composer’s grandchildren, the son of Heidi (featured at the link), when he was living in Philadelphia and later, believe it or not, my hometown of Easton, PA!
Anssi Blomstedt, a documentary filmmaker, now makes his home back in Helsinki. He also directed a feature film, “Axel” (1990), about Sibelius’ friendship with Axel Carpelan. It was Carpelan who suggested the name “Finlandia” for what became Sibelius’ most famous composition, and Sibelius dedicated his most frequently-performed symphony, the Symphony No. 2, to him.
The film is based on a novel, “Axel,” by Bo Carpelan, who was the subject’s great-nephew. Come to think of it, Anssi gave me a copy of the book, and it occurs to me that I never read it. Perhaps I’ll add it to my January reading list.
Speaking of “Finlandia,” if you’ve never seen this, you owe it to yourself to watch it. You won’t be sorry. In fact, it will probably make you want to move to Finland.
EIGHT DAYS OF SIBELIUS, in anticipation of the composer’s birthday anniversary on December 8:
One day, back in the late ‘90s, when I was still an antiquarian bookseller with a weekend full of radio obligations, a stranger wandered into my shop and stood transfixed. Robert Kajanus’ world premiere recording of Sibelius’ Symphony No. 3, set down in 1932, was emanating from the mantle speakers. The man turned to me and remarked upon the quality of the performance. I told him it was Kajanus, which he acknowledged with a nod. Then he introduced himself by saying the music was composed by his grandfather. This is how, by purest chance, I struck up a friendship with Anssi Blomstedt, a documentary filmmaker, then living in Philadelphia, and the youngest grandchild of Jean Sibelius.
Not long after, I made some phone calls and was able to get Anssi into a rehearsal of Simon Rattle conducting the Philadelphia Orchestra in Sibelius’ Symphony No. 5. The ebullient Rattle was overjoyed to meet him. The encounter happened to coincide with an interview Rattle was doing backstage with somebody from Vanity Fair, I think, and somewhere there is a photograph of the future Sir Simon planting a kiss on Anssi’s forehead.
One good turn deserves another, and it was through Anssi that I actually got to meet Einojuhani Rautavaara, back in the year 2000. At the time, Rautavaara was Finland’s most revered living composer. As a young man, he had actually worked as Sibelius’ chauffeur! Now he was in Philadelphia for the first performance of his own Symphony No. 8, subtitled “The Journey.” Anssi took me backstage at the Academy of Music to introduce us. The venerable composer was friendly and obviously amenable to a photograph (taken by Anssi, and posted here, in all its pre-digital glory).
Rautavaara was also kind enough to sign my Naxos CD of his Symphony No. 3, the Piano Concerto No. 1, and the Concerto for Birds and Orchestra, known as “Cantus Arcticus.” I wonder what he thought of this peculiar, 33-year-old, American fan.
It was through Anssi that I also acquired an autographed photo of Sibelius, which he brought back from the composer’s home, Ainola, in Järvenpää, Finland, located 23 miles north of Helsinki. I have yet to come across it since my move to Princeton, but it is around here somewhere! Sometime this week, I’ll try to post a photo of the Sibelius letter I acquired earlier, as a bookseller, which I had framed with a photo of the composer enjoying a good cigar. (The letter is a note of thanks for a box of cigars, one of Sibelius’ notable weaknesses.)
Later, Anssi lived for a time in Easton, PA, another amazing coincidence, since Easton happens to be my hometown. He then moved back to Finland, so it’s been a number of years since we’ve seen one another. I’m thinking today might be a good time to try to reestablish contact.
Sibelius’ Symphony No. 3, conducted by Robert Kajanus:
Probably Einojuhani Rautavaara’s most frequently-heard work, the “Cantus Arcticus,” with bird songs recorded by the composer in the bogs of Liminka, near the Arctic Circle:
I had the rare opportunity to actually meet Einojuhani Rautavaara once, back in the year 2000. He was in Philadelphia for the first performance of his Symphony No. 8, “The Journey.” By purest chance, I had struck up a friendship with Anssi Blomstedt, a documentary filmmaker then living in Philadelphia, who is the youngest grandchild of Jean Sibelius. He had simply wandered into my bookstore one day, as I was playing a CD of Robert Kajanus conducting his grandfather’s Symphony No. 3. Of all the gin joints in all the towns in all the world…
Anyway, I got Anssi into a rehearsal of Simon Rattle conducting the Philadelphia Orchestra in Sibelius’ Symphony No. 5. The ebullient Rattle was overjoyed to meet him. The encounter happened to coincide with an interview Rattle was doing backstage with somebody from Vanity Fair, I think, and somewhere there is a photograph of the future Sir Simon planting a kiss on Anssi’s forehead.
One good turn deserves another, and when Rautavaara came to town, Anssi took me backstage at the Academy of Music to introduce me to him. The venerable composer was friendly and obviously amenable to a photograph. He also was kind enough to sign my Naxos CD of his Symphony No. 3, Piano Concerto No. 1, and Concerto for Birds and Orchestra, “Cantus Arcticus.” I wonder what he thought of this peculiar, 33 year-old “fan.”
Rautavaara died on July 27 at the age of 87. Join me this morning as we celebrate the late Finnish master with FIVE HOURS of his music, from 6 to 11 EDT, on WPRB 103.3 FM and at wprb.com. One needs plenty of time in order even to say “Einojuhani Rautavaara.” Mostly we’ll let the music do the talking, on Classic Ross Amico.
