Classic Ross Amico

Tag: Sibelius

Kalevala’s Music Sibelius & Finnish Epic

I realize Lemminkäinen and Väinämöinen are not easy names to get your mouth around at 6:00 in the morning. Don’t worry, I’ll handle the incantations if you agree to carry my broadsword.

This morning on WPRB, it’s a full playlist of music inspired by the Kalevala, the Finnish national epic. The fantastic and heroic tales inspired Jean Sibelius to compose some of his greatest works.

But Sibelius was not alone in being influenced by this cultural juggernaut, which, like the mysterious and generative Sampo at the core of its rather wayward narrative, has had the effect of granting untold riches to its native land.

We’ll hear Kalevala-inspired works by Väinö Haapalainen, Robert Kajanus, Uuno Klami, Leevi Madetoja, Aarre Merikanto, Einojuhani Rautavaara, and of course Sibelius himself.

I hope you’ll join me, as we light 151 candles for Sibelius this morning, from 6 to 11 EST, on WPRB 103.3 FM and at wprb.com. We’re nothing if not polysyllabic, on Classic Ross Amico.

December 8, 2016
Kalevala Epic on WPRB for Sibelius’ Birthday

Grab a sword and join us on our quest to retrieve the Sampo from the evil residents of North Farm. Tomorrow morning on WPRB, to coincide with the anniversary of the birth of Jean Sibelius (1865-1957), we’ll have a full morning of music inspired by the Kalevala.

The Kalevala, a collection of fifty long narrative poems, is regarded as the Finnish national epic. Its fantastic and heroic tales informed the work of Finland’s greatest artists at a time when the country began to surge toward independence after 700 years of Swedish rule and an additional century as a duchy of the Russian Empire.

We’ll hear music from a variety sources, although of course Sibelius, who throughout his career returned again and again to the Kalevala for inspiration, will feature most prominently. Less well known, perhaps, beyond the borders of Finland, will be works like Robert Kajanus’ “Aino Symphony,” Uuno Klami’s “Kalevala Suite” and Einojuhani Rautavaara’s “The Myth of Sampo.”

We’ll have all of these and more tomorrow morning. It’s definitely going to be epic, from 6 to 11 EST, on WPRB 103.3 FM and at wprb.com. What we lack in polish, we’ll make up in Finnish, on Classic Ross Amico.

December 7, 2016
Gemma New NZ to NJ & Classical Music

From the antipodes to New Jersey!

Born in Wellington, New Zealand, less than 30 years ago, conductor Gemma New has come up in the world, both literally and figuratively. This former associate conductor of the New Jersey Symphony Orchestra is entering her second season as music director of the Hamilton Philharmonic Orchestra in Ontario, a recent Dudamel Conducting Fellow with the Los Angeles Philharmonic, and now resident conductor of the St. Louis Symphony Orchestra.

She returns this week to conduct the NJSO in music by Sibelius (his Symphony No. 2), Grieg (his Piano Concerto, with Stewart Goodyear the soloist), and her compatriot Douglas Lilburn (the “Aotearoa Overture,” a piece seemingly no non-New Zealander can pronounce). Remaining performances will take place at Princeton University’s Richardson Auditorium tonight at 8:00, the Count Basie Theatre in Red Bank tomorrow night at 8:00, and the State Theatre New Jersey in New Brunswick Sunday afternoon at 3:00.

You can learn more about this up-and-coming conductor, her thoughtfully constructed program, the relationship of Sibelius to New Zealand, and the special significance of Lilburn’s music to Kiwi audiences, in my article in today’s Trenton Times.

http://www.nj.com/times-entertainment/index.ssf/2016/10/classical_music_njso_performin_1.html

October 7, 2016
George Szell Birthday A Perfectionist’s Legacy

Today is the birthday of George Szell (1897-1970). A notorious autocrat from an era when autocrats were tolerated, expected and even revered on the podium, Szell was a formidable perfectionist, even to the extent of lecturing the Severance Hall custodians on the acceptable way to mop a floor and what kind of toilet paper they should be supplying in the restrooms. Okay, he may have been a little tightly wound, but you can’t quibble with the results. Thank your lucky stars you didn’t have to work for him, but boy, could he conduct!

Szell’s benchmark modern orchestra Haydn:

While on tour with the Cleveland Orchestra in Tokyo, and with only two months to live (he was terminally ill with cancer), Szell conducted what very well may be the most thrilling performance of Sibelius’ Symphony No. 2 I have ever heard, certainly on a par with the classic Barbirolli account with the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra:

Szell as a Mozart pianist:

One of Szell’s own, early compositions, “Variations on an Original Theme”:

Szell speaks!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=INKhc-WM_eM

June 7, 2016
Sibelius’s Great Grandson Rocks

Thank you, Kenneth Hutchins, for bringing this article to my attention the other day.

The Sound of Silence

Sibelius may not have been able to complete his Eighth Symphony, but his great grandson has composed this awesome electric guitar concerto.

http://www.classiclive.com/porra-entropia-full-video

Lauri Porra is a bassist in the Finnish metal band Stratovarius.

March 22, 2016

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