Lemminkainen was masterfully used the disc repeatedly: Ormandy / EMI, unparalleled power as sumptuous sound, Kamu / DG Sibelius: Orchestral Suitestout alertness and impulse, a terrible dynamism, Saraste / RCA, a vehement lyricism and abstraction of a concentrated very remarkable, Salonen / Sony more dispersed but fascinating in detail, Vänskä / Bis, the more subtle, with the original versions of two movements in the Appendix.
Segerstam not like anyone. For him arises LOEUVRE a nebulous dream, while haze of fine and sparkling keys to openly impressionistic character, where, paradoxically, the global movement seems largely outweigh the precise detail or clarity of plans. We admire the extreme lightness of the first component, caught in a "scherzando" movement, playful, when softened, air contours, do not hide a real tension and violent currents of underground forces (see the aggressiveness of the great final crescendo). Almost deprived of colors, Lemminkainen to Tuonela surprisingly accused modernism to the extreme (Segerstam is also a talented composer), in a very slow tempo, while livid lighting in unprecedented transparency and a bubbling sound scary. The Swan of Tuonela contrasts strikingly icy framework ropes singing an intimate tenderness desperate the English horn in a true visionary and fatal climate. Segerstam finally found, with the last part, a genuine breath of epic, in an electrifying movement where the most barbaric splendor partners with the most subtle finesse. The end, rough, fantastic sound imagination, unleashed a frenzy that seems borne on the wings of a stormy and enthusiastic wind. Major and singular etching, therefore.
One can not imagine Tapiola more different than Rosbaud (DG). Here LOEUVRE appears relative of "Nuages" from Debussy, sort of white agony, any morbid and mysterious rustlings, in a move to both slow, cursive and bright, very strange. The contrasts appear strong softened, wild flights, smoothed in favor dune almost mystical depth, admirable.
Here is a first-round pairing, which without reaching the magnificence of it Ormandy / Berglund (EMI) Legends / Tapiola, seduced by the fundamental originality of his approach.
Miking very fine. Impressive dynamics. The back of the orchestra, however, lacks terrain.
