Jean Sibelius: Lemminkäinen Suite, Four Legends from the Kalevala | Turku Philharmonic Orchestra

[@paulolira6443]

Amazing!! Sibelius always rocks!!! The more one listens to his works, the more one loves it.

[@richardjohns8617]

The first movement of this work is elemental: it contains the soul of Finland - its Land, Air, Fire, and Water. It thrills me

[@windstorm1000]

Sibelius seems to have channeled the myth and the landscape it was born in....its beyond human thought. Extrordinary.

[@bugatti103]

Fab Sibeius briliant music,,,,bravo

[@stephenhall3515]

The late Leif Segerstam was probably the best Sibelius conductor of his generation and avoided the failings of some other conductors tipping into this century. His approach was to use original autograph scores in his research and preparation and sometimes he conducted from facsimile copies of these in performance. When doing so his 'ceremony' was to lay a hand on the score before mounting the podium then again after stepping down. LS wanted to show that every note was there for a reason and sometimes he used notes by the composer in pencil which do not occur in plain editions. These usually related to tempi of motifs in repeated forms and scored the same but having a different role in the whole piece's journey and how some violins and violas should be played in a seemingly unison section. Sibelius was a violinist, as was Elgar and both used these devices. Where Segerstam succeeds especially well in this performance with "the home band" is in unifying pieces which were written over quite a long period earlier in his mature voice development and only later collected into a whole as Op.22. In earlier works Sibelius sometimes published 'safer' works while working on these more private ones, basically to establish his music as being worth playing and he had to watch the pennies too. A state grant was not given until around the time of his 3rd symphony and the very strange 4th would not have been as we know it had he been obliged to make it less nihilistic. Those who say that Segerstam doesn't look at the musicians are plain wrong. His way was always to ensure that were ready and before a challenging passage he would also look at the relevant players out of encouragement or readiness or because he saw the role of conductor as being part of the ensemble. Having begun with the Turku orchestra (he hailed from further north in the Bothnia region), Segerstam conducted some of the world's most prestigious orchestra but has special affection for the younger version of the Turku P. O., which others had refined from his early days. The endocrine disease which afflicted him from before the age of 70 made mobility difficult and he was supported by his family in refusing to retire until and unless his musicianship was affected. It never was and died aged 80 in October 2024. With such a disabling illness it made sense to domestically "retire" to home ground and we are privileged to have his final years conducting Sibelius (definitively?) with the astonishing Turku Phil, whose personnel (I am told) tended to remain to learn and make music with Leif Segerstam. Other approaches to Op.22 which are well worth hearing are Ormandy with the Philadelphia and Alexander Gibson with the SNO.

[@donaldallen1771]

No one does this work better than Segerstam, in my opinion.

[@ArtyFactual_Intelligence]

Father and son Järvi ain't bad, though!

[@leonardzane]

What a panorama of wonder! Another great gift of Jean Sibelius as delivered by inspired musicians under Leif Segerstam!

[@АртурМолодых]

Очень круто! Сибелиус гений!

[@davidjared3402]

Beautiful; the more Sibelius I listen to, the more I appreciate his genius. Do others think that this piece sounds like Rimsky-Korsakov's "Scheherezade" in places?

[@abdul7591]

I think the four-part structure of the two pieces, as well as the extremely fanciful nature of the music they both contain, certainly invites comparisons. I love both works, however, and would not care to place one above the other.

[@artdominika]

yes!!! me too

[@Nelly22274]

Qué hermosa obra!!!! hoy tuve una clase sobre mitología uroginesa, y hablábamos del Kalevala, poema épico Finlandés, se nos sugirió escuchar esta obra de Sibelius y he quedado fascinada!!!!! Impresionante interpretación de la Turku Philharmonic Orchestra!!! saludos desde Lima - Perú!!!!

[@staffanolofsson8201]

Time stamps, without advertisment (Adblock Plus): 0:07 Lemminkäinen and the Maidens of Saari 17:45 Lemminkäinen in Tuonela 36:17 The Swan of Tuonela 45:50 Lemminkäinens Return

[@RhapsodyOfJoy]

🙏

[@paulbeard4218]

This work is "stand alone" -- truly of extraordinary quality -- one of the top works I've ever heard .

[@MegaVicar]

Wonderful! Well-played! Since first hearing it about 25 years ago this piece is a desert island disc for me. Thanks for the upload!

[@late8641]

Every time the Swan of Tuonela begins, I get chills

[@ArtyFactual_Intelligence]

The really cold chill is expressed in the second half of Lem in Tuonela (after the magical sequence of woodwind solos that commence after 26 mins in this performance). You can hear the snow being windswept off the remote pine trees when the bass drum underpins the action. I wouldn't swap Lem in Tuonela for the entire output of Richard Strauss Tone Poems.

[@marcsmith5275]

Agreed!

[@marwanjay9578]

The director never look at the performers, as stated in an interview, he directed for the first time by reading the score, and never heard the music before this, and he said that looking at women with many time open skirts playing cello he get easily a stiffy so publicly he tend to avoid it. Thats why you can see he almost never looks at the performers.

Wonderful!

[@angelosilva4051]

Sibelius grandissimo.

[@derelictlumberbatch9362]

I always end my boring morning meet notes with links to some important piece of art, from Joyce reading Ulysses to contemporary Syrian graffiti. This monday it will be Lemminkäinens Svit av Sibelius! And to accent that and force them into listening i'll spend all day pestering co-workers with random shout-outs - "Ilmarinen!" "Luohi!" "Luohi!" again. There will be a lot of Luohi, the super villain of kalevala. Or is she? And a little Joukahainen in the math lessons to colour game theory.

[@staffanolofsson8201]

Dear D. Lumberbatch! Thank you for trying to live the Lemminkäinen life! Not many of us have the gut to do so. How has your last year been? Some feathers from the swan of Tuonela? "Kulervo" "Pohjola" "Lemminkäisen äiti".

[@staffanolofsson8201]

This is one one Sibelius most essential works. If you dont know who Lemminkäinen is, his was a hero in Kalevala, the great Finnish National Epos that was written down on paper ca 1850. Lemminkäinen in this myth was a womenizer with many grand adventures. Sibelius was inspired by this tale. The rest is history.

[@cesarlorenzetti2133]

Gran obra. Gran interpretación. Bravo.

[@carlosa.vallejo2392]

Misteriosa la suite

[@davidjared3402]

Could someone post the time stamps for the different movements? Thank you!

[@staffanolofsson8201]

Now you have it!

[@ГерманУстинов-з1х]

Life!

[@Josemjkno]

BRAVO !!!!!!

[@staffanolofsson8201]

What comes flying over the cellist at 37:37, a little white object? It is a mystery, it hits the groud with a distinct noise, luckily the cellist and the orchestra keeps playing...

[@yuenccheung1586]

it looks like his sleeve button thing

[@RhapsodyOfJoy]

I guess the cufflink! A bit distracting, though.

[@leerainwater2845]

I agree, it appears that he lost his cuff link. It actually struck his cello before hitting the floor.

[@richardwilliams473]

This conductor has his eyes firmly on the score on his stand with no eye contact with the musicians? I have seen other conductors without a score have a much better affinity with the musicians .

[@donaldallen1771]

First of all, he looks up at times when he feels eye contact is needed, so your first statement is false. Secondly, do you think you know more about conducting than Segerstam? Lastly, I suggest that you pay more attention to the results than to how they are achieved. Unless you are world-class conductor, your opinion about his technique is worthless.

[@richardwilliams473]

@@donaldallen1771 Sorry. I stand corrected. I will never voice my opinion ever again.

[@ArtyFactual_Intelligence]

@@richardwilliams473 To throw my equally worthless opinion into the ring, I would suggest that the main reason that conductors wave their arms and or a stick around is that the orchestral musicians can see that movement out of the corner of their eye, in peripheral vision, while they too are quite reasonably looking at the orchestral parts which have bar rests marked, as distinct from the full scores favoured by conductors and critics alike. Also, to lighten the chatter, we must bear in mind that R.Strauss advised conductors NEVER to look at the brass players at all - for fear they might mistake the attention for an exhortation to play louder.

[@paulbeard4218]

@@donaldallen1771 Bravo -- I conclude the same .

[@natsuki7680]

9:10 49:20

[@channelfogg6629]

Sibelius - and I hate to say thisas an atheist - is god.

[@late8641]

As a fellow atheist, I agree

[@noriemeha]

AS God-fearing child brought up on a diet of BBC classical music, I thought the voice of At the Castle Gate (Pelleas & Melisande, Op.46) was the voice of God.

[@pyromorph6540]

You atheists sure potray the Antichrist archetype vividly.

[@ArtyFactual_Intelligence]

@@pyromorph6540 Atheists are anti-religion, not AntiChrist. There's a difference.

[@paulbeard4218]

@@noriemeha I side with you .

[@Richard-b5r9v]

I didn't know Santa Claus could conduct