4 ½ stars

A large, diverse crowd attended Sydney Symphony’s concert on 24 April 2024. Subscribers were joined with many visitors from Scandinavia and Europe to see Osmo Vänskä conduct the music of Jean Sibelius.

Sibelius was born in Finland during an interesting time in the country’s history when the Finnish were keen to show the world their national identity. After being under Swedish rule for some 400 years, Finland was ceded to Russia at the beginning of the 1800’s. Russia made Finland an autonomous Grand Duchy encouraging the people to rejuvenate the Finnish language rather than speaking Swedish. All was well for a few decades, however, towards the end of the 1800s, as Sibelius was growing up, it appears Russia was starting to dig their fingers in the pie, so to speak, and interfere with the running of the country.

The arts have always been a way to express that which cannot always be expressed in words on the street for fear of retribution. Sibelius was there at the perfect time, in the perfect place, to stand for the Finnish people celebrating their unique culture. In keeping with the view to preserve their heritage, many of his compositions expressed the lilt and rhythm of it’s folk music, relaying the folk stories and legends.

Conductor Osmo Vänskä is known throughout the world for his wonderful interpretations of the music of Sibelius. His curated collection for this program matched beautifully.

The program began with an instrumental work, “Pohjola’s Daughter” based around a folk story from the Finnish national epic, the Kalevala. In this story the old, white-bearded man named Väinämöinen travels up into the Arctic region of Pohjola and discovers, to his delight, the beautiful maiden of the North, seated upon a rainbow, spinning a thread in the sky. (Sounds very much like the Northern Lights). He begs her to come down to Earth and join him in his sleigh. She says she will only join with a man who can complete the tasks she sets. Here is what makes a great folk story that can be “spun” to last all evening if the audience is captive or until the last child goes to sleep. Although he puts in immense effort to achieve her tasks, including all the magic he knows, he cannot succeed. In the end he continues on his way alone. The introduction is gorgeous, slowly opening our view of the scene. Solos from the orchestra are emphasised but gentle. The tempo rises like the horse is beginning to pick up speed.

The composition is truly genius, seamlessly drawing from different parts of the orchestra, sometimes dangerous, sometimes so beautiful it brings tears to the eye. One part was too quick to tell exactly what was happening but appeared as if half the violins stroked down syncopated with their neighbour who would then make the stroke. The visual result was a sea of bows sawing up and down making a movement like a thrashing ocean with waves hitting each other from many directions. (This was intentional. Don’t worry, the orchestra knew exactly what they were doing and no violinist was harmed in the process.) Vänskä knows the work well and drew all the subtleties from each orchestral section. Sometimes the work was so very gentle and quiet, only a superb conductor and orchestra could pull it off without a fault. Absolutely brilliant.

The first half continued with a selection of songs Sibelius wrote over the course of about 20 years. Our story teller was Finnish soprano Helena Juntunen, an extraordinary performer with a vast range in vocal technique and dramatic ability. She made the most of her fair complexion and red hair with a halter neck dress in duck egg blue satin richly embossed with pale gold emblems.

Unafraid in her acting to be ugly when necessary, she began her first song, legs astride telling of “Höstkväll” or Autumn Night. Only a Scandinavian could truly tell the story of each song like this. Her understanding of the depth and subtlety of the language went well beyond what any foreigner could achieve with a mere translation of lyrics.

In one particular song “Hertig Magnus”, she tells of a gloomy nobleman standing at the window looking out to sea. His father is nearing the end of his life and there are arguments amongst his siblings. He spots a mermaid or water nymph down in the water who gently calls to him. She promises to give him comfort and “hold thee to my bosom”. What man can resist? Off he goes into the water to meet the mermaid. We are so used to stories of the deceit of water beings but, in this one, there a humorous ending where the nobleman is found the next morning peacefully asleep on the shore. Juntunen’s telling of the story was just gorgeous, lots of humour and, at the close of the song, bending down to a seated level she sang a few of the last words to Concertmaster Andrew Haveron to which he couldn’t help but smile. She gave him a quick wink before finishing, bowing to the audience and exiting stage right. Haveron quickly checked his bowtie giving away the possibility of a blush. It was very sweet.

Here’s the song about 3-4 minutes long. The folk style may remind you of a piece Gretel sings in Humperdinck’s Hansel and Gretel.

Recording is of “Hertig Magnus” performed by soprano Soile Isokoski with the Helsinki Philharmonic conducted by Leif Segerstam.

Lyrics in Swedish and English: https://oxfordsong.org/song/hertig-magnus

Taking a break between the songs, the orchestra performed “Våren flyktar hastigt” or “Spring is Flying” featuring a wonderful solo by guest harpist Natalie Wong.

Juntunen returned for the two final songs. As the program cannot be read in semi-darkness, it might have been beneficial to have the sur-titles of the English Translation above the stage to follow. Perhaps the orchestra will consider this for future similar circumstances.

The second half of the program featured a master work by Sibelius. “Lemminkäinen Suite” which follows the gist (not literally like a tone poem) of four legends from the Kalevala separated into movements. The audience could not help but applaud between movements which Vänskä accepted with grace.

Again Sibelius used a similar tactic as before by musically drawing back the curtain, gradually introducing the scene to us. Excellent solos by many in the orchestra including cellist Simon Cobcroft, harpists Wong plus Julie Kim, viola Tobias Breider, cor anglais Alexandre Oguey and flute Joshua Batty. The brass section filled out the crescendos whilst the horn section performed several times in the evening muted.

These legends can be incredibly dramatic and Sibelius made full use of the drama. Vänskä drew a wonderful performance from the orchestra. They appear to enjoy his leadership. The audience were thrilled with the concert giving a long applause with several curtain calls.

Over all, an excellent evening of entertainment. The Sydney Symphony is performing more music of Sibelius in July conducted by Dalia Stasevska. Book early for the best seats. Link below…

Guests of the Sydney Symphony Orchestra

Osmo Vänskä – Conductor
Helena Juntunen – Soprano

Program

All by Jean Sibelius
Pohjola’s Daughter Op. 49
Höstkväll (Autumn Night) Op. 38 No. 1
Hertig Magnus (Count Magnus) Op. 57 No. 6
Våren flyktar hastigt (Spring is Flying) Op. 13 No. 4
The Bard Op. 64
Luonnotar Op. 70
Lemminkäinen Suite (Four Legends from the Kalevala) Op. 22

Related Links

Sydney Symphony upcoming Sibelius concert in July: https://www.sydneysymphony.com/concerts/dalia-stasevska-conudcts-sibelius-fifth-symphony
Osmo Vänskä artist details: https://www.harrisonparrott.com/artists/osmo-vanska
Helena Juntunen website: https://helenajuntunen.com/