Aarre Merikanto - Symphony No. 2; Ekho (Petri Sakari)

Information

Composer: Aarre Merikanto

• (01) Symphony No. 2 in A major, Op. 19 'War Symphony'
• (05) Ekho, for soprano and orchestra

Anu Komsi, soprano

Turku Philharmonic Orchestra

Petri Sakari, conductor

Date: 2012

Label: Alba

https://alba.fi/en/product/aarre-merikanto-sinfonia-2-ekho/

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Review

First taping for Merikanto’s Second, and Komsi sings Ekho

After the volatile, unruly and twice-written First Symphony (191216), Merikanto’s Second (1918) was produced with much greater ease – no need for a thoroughgoing revision – and on a bigger scale, running in this committed account to almost 47 minutes’ playing time. Merikanto’s theme was war but there is little of the pity or the horror of Finland’s brief but murderous conflict in 191718, despite his having seen active service and been taken prisoner. The opening Allegro energico is heavy-scored and almost a symphony in itself; the succeeding Allegro scherzo is nimbler on its feet and does not outstay its expansive eight-minute span. The symphony’s heart, though, is the Largo, a freewheeling polyphonic fantasia of eloquent beauty, with reiterated grinding trombone glissandos that unsettled the audience at the premiere. After it, the celebratory Allegro con brio finale seems contrived and anti-climactic. Annotator Jouni Kaipainen finds it unsettlingly triumphalist but I think non-Finns may hear it rather as celebrating the war’s close and independence gained.

The Turku Philharmonic Orchestra under Sakari once again give a full-blooded interpretation, relishing Merikanto’s rich scoring and harmonic language that point towards the adventurous works of the 1920s. The gem of the disc is one of those: Ekho (1922), based on Koskenniemi’s retelling of the Greek myth, is a tone-poem-cum-song that may have been suggested by the example of Sibelius’s Luonnotar (1911), but there likenesses end. Ekho is a very different kind of work, a ravishingly beautiful score, impressionistic and dramatic, passionate and mysterious by turns, wonderfully sung by Anu Komsi. It baffled its first listeners yet is worth the price of the disc alone.

-- Guy Rickards, Gramophone

More reviews:
http://www.musicweb-international.com/classrev/2014/feb14/Merikanto_sy2_ABCD351.htm

https://www.amazon.com/Merikanto-Symphony-No-2-Ekho/dp/B00F96H242

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Aarre Merikanto (29 June 1893 – 28 September 1958) was a Finnish composer, the son of famous romantic composer Oskar Merikanto. He studied music in Helsinki 1911, Leipzig 1912–1914 and Moscow 1916–1917. Merikanto is considered a key figure in early Finnish modernism and several of his works, most notably the opera Juha, have obtained posthumous attention. As professor of composition in the Sibelius Academy (1951–1958) Merikanto taught several Finnish composers of the next generation, including Einojuhani Rautavaara, Usko Meriläinen, Aulis Sallinen and Paavo Heininen.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aarre_Merikanto

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Petri Sakari (born 25 November 1958 in Helsinki ) is a Finnish violinist and conductor. He studied at the Tampere Conservatory and graduated from the Sibelius Academy in 1981. From 1988 to 1993 he was Chief Conductor and Music Director of the Iceland Symphony Orchestra, continuing as Principal Guest Conductor and returning as Chief Conductor from 1996 to 1998. From 2000 to 2004, he was Chief Conductor of the Gävle Symphony Orchestra. He has recorded all the symphonies of Leevi Madetoja and Jean Sibelius, as well as works by Hugo Alfvén, Franz Berwald, Edvard Grieg, Uuno Klami and Jón Leifs.
https://fi.wikipedia.org/wiki/Petri_Sakari
http://www.naxos.com/person/Petri_Sakari/31844.htm

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