Klami Orchestral Works
View record and artist detailsRecord and Artist Details
Composer or Director: Uuno (Kalervo) Klami
Label: Chandos
Magazine Review Date: 8/1994
Media Format: CD or Download
Media Runtime: 71
Mastering:
DDD
Catalogue Number: CHAN9268
Tracks:
| Composition | Artist Credit |
|---|---|
| Kalevala |
Uuno (Kalervo) Klami, Composer
Iceland Symphony Orchestra Petri Sakari, Conductor Uuno (Kalervo) Klami, Composer |
| Karelian Rhapsody (Karjalainen rapsodia) |
Uuno (Kalervo) Klami, Composer
Iceland Symphony Orchestra Petri Sakari, Conductor Uuno (Kalervo) Klami, Composer |
| Sea Pictures |
Uuno (Kalervo) Klami, Composer
Iceland Symphony Orchestra Petri Sakari, Conductor Uuno (Kalervo) Klami, Composer |
Author: Robert Layton
Uuno Klami maintains a peripheral foothold in the catalogue, and an even more precarious position in the concert-hall. His Violin Concerto and Second Piano Concerto (10/91) have been recorded by Finlandia along with the Cheremissian Fantasy for cello and orchestra and his large-scale choral work, Psalmus. In reviewing the Finlandia coupling of the Kalevala Suite and the Sea Pictures (''Merikuvia'') by the Finnish Radio orchestra under Leif Segerstam, I went so far as to speak of Klami's ''escape from the spell of Sibelius, only to fall for the intoxicating draughts of such masters as Ravel, early Stravinsky and Florent Schmitt, with whom he studied''. To their number might well be added Falla, and to be fair, his escape from Sibelius was far from complete—in fact far from it! His contemporaries thought him ''a sophisticated orchestral conjurer'' whose music lacked real substance, a judgement which largely holds.
All three pieces on this CD were composed between 1927 (the Karelian Rhapsody) and 1933, when the Kalevala Suite was finished (it was revised in 1943, when Klami added the delightful scherzo, ''Terhenniemi''. The scoring throughout these works is very Gallic and highly accomplished, and there are many imaginative and atmospheric passages (usually at the beginning of the pieces). However, in terms of musical substance there are fewer rewards and the end of the Karelian Rhapsody is empty and crude, and much the same must be said of the last of the Sea Pictures, a kind of footnote on Ravel's Bolero. All the same, there is enough of interest to make these colourful but derivative scores worth investigating, though it is difficult to see them making real inroads into the repertory outside Finland.
The playing from the Iceland Symphony Orchestra under Petri Sakari is good, while the recording is generally up to Chandos's standard. The disc needs to be played at a higher than usual level if it is to be heard to best advantage. On high-grade equipment it yields fine results and a wide dynamic range. On more modest sets detail can become lost in the quieter sections. '
All three pieces on this CD were composed between 1927 (the Karelian Rhapsody) and 1933, when the Kalevala Suite was finished (it was revised in 1943, when Klami added the delightful scherzo, ''Terhenniemi''. The scoring throughout these works is very Gallic and highly accomplished, and there are many imaginative and atmospheric passages (usually at the beginning of the pieces). However, in terms of musical substance there are fewer rewards and the end of the Karelian Rhapsody is empty and crude, and much the same must be said of the last of the Sea Pictures, a kind of footnote on Ravel's Bolero. All the same, there is enough of interest to make these colourful but derivative scores worth investigating, though it is difficult to see them making real inroads into the repertory outside Finland.
The playing from the Iceland Symphony Orchestra under Petri Sakari is good, while the recording is generally up to Chandos's standard. The disc needs to be played at a higher than usual level if it is to be heard to best advantage. On high-grade equipment it yields fine results and a wide dynamic range. On more modest sets detail can become lost in the quieter sections. '
Klami Orchestral Works
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