Composer: Jean Sibelius
Performer: Pia Pajala
Orchestra: Turku Philharmonic Orchestra
Conductor: Leif Segerstam
Format: FLAC (tracks)
Label: Naxos
Release: 2015
Size: 1.02 GB
Recovery: +3%
Scan: yes
01. Overture in E major, JS145
02. Scène de ballet, JS163
Belshazzar’s Feast, JS48
03. Act I: Alla marcia
04. Act II: Prelude: Nocturno
05. Act II: Den judiska flickans sang (Vid alvarna i Babylon) (The Song of the Jewish Girl)
06. Act III: Allegretto
07. Act III: Livets dans (Dance of Life)
08. Act III: Dodens dans (Dance of Death)
09. Act III: Livets dans (Dance of Life) (excerpt)
10. Act IV: Tempo sostenuto
11. Act IV: Allegro
12. Act IV: Livets dans (Dance of Life)
13. Act IV: Dodens dans (Dance of Death)
14. Wedding March for Act III of Adolf Paul’s play ‘The Language of the Birds’
15. Cortege, JS 54
16. Menuetto, JS 127
17. Processional (‘Onward, Ye Peoples’), Op. 113 No. 6
Recorded: 20-24 January 2014
Recording Venue: Turku Concert Hall, Turku, Finland
Alongside the great symphonies and tone poems, music for the theatre played an important rolê in Sibelius’s development. From exquisite nocturnal tranquility to the macabre ‘Dance of Life’, Belshazzar’s Feast is an exotic tale of seduction and tragedy to which Sibelius responded with some of his most hauntingly beautiful writing for the stage. The early Menuetto and lively Cortège were considered good enough by the composer to be recycled for further stage productions, while the Overture in E and Scène de Ballet started life as Sibelius’s first attempt at composing a symphony.
This is the second of a six-volume set of orchestral works by Jean Sibelius which explores his prolific but infrequently-heard work beyond the core oeuvre of the symphonies, violin concerto and tone poems. Conductor Leif Segerstam has been acclaimed for his many recordings with numerous orchestras, and was awarded the annual Finnish State Prize for Music in 2004 and in 2005 the highly esteemed Sibelius Medal. His recordings for Naxos include a “skillfully and sweepingly paced” Wagner’s Tristan und Isolde (Classic FM on 8660152-54), his conducting of Alban Berg’s Wozzeck regarded as “a giant-killer” (Gramophone on 8660076-77). The Turku Philharmonic is a platinum record-making and award winning orchestra, and we are confident that the sheer quality of this new series will guarantee wide interest in the relatively neglected works of Finland’s greatest and most influential composer.