I have already discussed the provenance of this opera at some length last October and will not repeat more than the barest essentials here. Sibelius's only opera was first performed in Helsinki in 1897, and remained unheard for the rest of his lifetime. The actual layout of the opera is somewhat bizarre: it falls into eight short scenes and lasts no more than 35 minutes. There is none of the mastery we find in the symphonies or tone poems—or, for that matter, the best of the songs. Yet there are wonderful things in it: the chorus at the opening of the third scene, which portrays the coming of spring ( ''Now in the forest the winds of spring are sighing'') is quite haunting. The lover's music in the fourth scene is also powerful, and along with the Maiden's prayer, for example, resonates in the mind afterwards. I have come to like it a good deal more than I did on first encountering it in the 1981 Finnish radio performance in which two of the soloists recorded here took part.
The appearance of this LP is welcome in that it give Sibelians who have not invested in CD the opportunity of coming to terms with this piece, and the recording is eminently satisfactory. The low level hum of which the sleeve speaks remains as unobtrusive in this format as it was on CD. Neeme Jarvi gives a good account of the score, as do his fine singers, and the pressings are impeccable.'