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Customer Reviews
Most Helpful Customer Reviews
18 of 18 people found the following review helpful
Format:Audio CD
Melartin was composing his symphonies at the same time that Sibelius was composing his, but his own works never seemed to get the same recognition. This is strange, because they are every bit as good.
They are richly melodic and inventive, as Melartin was a bit of an experimenter - and a good number of his experiments paid off. He openly acknowledges a debt to Mahler, and in his use of brass this is more than apparent in places. The rich sonorities of Mahler's Third seem to return again and again. Wonderful stuff.
Particular high points include the third movement of the Fourth, in which he uses three female voices in a manner which later composers may even have used a theremin to obtain the same effect. Another very effective device is heard in the sixth, in which he slips into a Japanese pentatonic scale to paint a uniquely Oriental sounding picture.
The performance is faultless and delicate in tone, and the vocalists in particular are to be commended.
12 of 12 people found the following review helpful
Format:Audio CD
I can't see any reason - other than perhaps copyright - that should prevent Erkki Melatin's symphonies having regular live performances. Indeed, living in Birmingham UK as I do I am rather disappointed that our Finnish Music Director of the City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra (Sakari Oramo - soon to move on, alas) has not been brave enough to introduce the cyclical Symphony 3, with its radiantly beautiful slow movement and amazing chorale-trio in the third movement, to his local audience. I found Melatin by chance when looking for something interesting to buy on the Amazon USA site, where you will find other fuller reviews of this set. How glad I am that I did!
At the price of just under £20.00 for a three disc set this is worth anybody taking a chance on. If you have heard and like Alven, Stenhammar or the marvellous symphonies of Atterberg then you will like this. If you have not explored Scandiavian late Romanticism then Melatin is a good place to start. And I do urge you to explore it as it is full of wonderful things.
As another reviewer has written, the symphonies are full of inventive experiments, like the above-mentioned use of a chorale theme in the middle of a scherzo and the use of wordless human voices (Nielsen did the same in his Sionfonia Espansiva - ie #3 - and Debussy's female choir in Sirenes and Holst's choir in Neptune from the Planets, all roughly contemperaneous, show that this is not all that "experimental").
For me the symphonies 3 and 6 are particularly interesting but all the others are very pleasureable listening experiences. There is nothing particularly hard to listen to - and I would not say that Melartin's talent reached the level of Sibelius' genius in Symphony 4 or Tapiola, which ARE hard-going on first acquaintance. But if you are comfortable with, say, Sibelius Symphony 2 you will also be comfortable with Melartin. Otherwise, comparisons are odious as the music is nothing really like any of the other composers mentioned already in this review. Nor should you expect a "Northern Mahler" for Melartin's music rarely reaches the depths of anguish that can be found THERE.
This is not to say that the symphonies are trivial or mere tune-spinning events. Each one is different and all have points of great interest.
I have only given 4 stars to this review because of the less than top-rate Tempere Orchestra. The musicians play very well but the recording favours the brass, wind and percussion to the disadvantage of the first violins in particular. I cannot help but feel that the string section is simply too small to make some of the aspiring themes in slow movements "sing" as they should. That said, we should be very grateful to Ondine for making this music available, and at the price I urge you to buy the set.
Currently (19 March 2007) the delivery date is 4 - 6 weeks when buying new from Amazon UK, which is a pity as I hope it does not put off prospective buyers.
At the price of just under £20.00 for a three disc set this is worth anybody taking a chance on. If you have heard and like Alven, Stenhammar or the marvellous symphonies of Atterberg then you will like this. If you have not explored Scandiavian late Romanticism then Melatin is a good place to start. And I do urge you to explore it as it is full of wonderful things.
As another reviewer has written, the symphonies are full of inventive experiments, like the above-mentioned use of a chorale theme in the middle of a scherzo and the use of wordless human voices (Nielsen did the same in his Sionfonia Espansiva - ie #3 - and Debussy's female choir in Sirenes and Holst's choir in Neptune from the Planets, all roughly contemperaneous, show that this is not all that "experimental").
For me the symphonies 3 and 6 are particularly interesting but all the others are very pleasureable listening experiences. There is nothing particularly hard to listen to - and I would not say that Melartin's talent reached the level of Sibelius' genius in Symphony 4 or Tapiola, which ARE hard-going on first acquaintance. But if you are comfortable with, say, Sibelius Symphony 2 you will also be comfortable with Melartin. Otherwise, comparisons are odious as the music is nothing really like any of the other composers mentioned already in this review. Nor should you expect a "Northern Mahler" for Melartin's music rarely reaches the depths of anguish that can be found THERE.
This is not to say that the symphonies are trivial or mere tune-spinning events. Each one is different and all have points of great interest.
I have only given 4 stars to this review because of the less than top-rate Tempere Orchestra. The musicians play very well but the recording favours the brass, wind and percussion to the disadvantage of the first violins in particular. I cannot help but feel that the string section is simply too small to make some of the aspiring themes in slow movements "sing" as they should. That said, we should be very grateful to Ondine for making this music available, and at the price I urge you to buy the set.
Currently (19 March 2007) the delivery date is 4 - 6 weeks when buying new from Amazon UK, which is a pity as I hope it does not put off prospective buyers.
11 of 12 people found the following review helpful
Format:Audio CD|Amazon Verified Purchase
To most music lovers the only Finnish composer who comes within their ken is Sibelius, but there were others, contemporaries of the genius, some of whose works are worthy to stand alongside his. Foremost among these is Erkki Melartin(1875-1937) who, coincidentally, was also an exact contemporary of Ravel.His six completed symphonies are a marvellous melange of romantic eclectism echoing reminiscences of Tchaikovky, Mahler and Sibelius while maintaining their own distinctive musical stamp. Enterprisingly recorded by Ondine between 1992 and 1994 and available as a box set or separate discs, all six of them are a joy to listen to and they should be eagerly snapped up. My five star rating is for the music and for the performances which are generally of a high standard however this cannot be said for the recording. It is so bitterly frustrating that the recordings were so ill-served by the Ondine engineers. Don't get me wrong; they are all perfectly acceptable but the balance is out of kilter. The strings sound as if they were playing in an adjoining room,indeed becoming almost inaudible at times. I don't know what size string section it had but I find it difficult to believe that the strings of the Tampere Philharmonic were so thin-toned and weedy and must therefore lay the blame squarely on the recording. In contrast the brass and timpani are quite spectacular. I can imagine what a lush, romantic sound these symphonies would have in the hands of, say, the Chandos engineers. Is anybody out there listening?
Notwithtanding these reservations I would urge CD buyers to invest in these wonderful symphonies. You will not be disappointed.
Notwithtanding these reservations I would urge CD buyers to invest in these wonderful symphonies. You will not be disappointed.
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