Sibelius: Presto in D major for string orchestra, etc.

2010

“Don't let the low opus number hoodwink you: Cassazione dates from 1904 and was first given under Sibelius's baton at the same Helsinki concert as the premiere of the first version of the Violin Concerto. Revised the following year but never published, it's well worth hearing, containing as it does echoes of both Pelleas andMelisande and the Second Symphony's finale.
The dashing Presto began life as the third movement of Sibelius's Op 4 String Quartet in B flat of 1889-90, and was subsequently transcribed for string orchestra in 1894. The three suites date from 1921-2. True, the Suite caractéristique serves up a pretty thin brew, but both the Suitemignonne and Suite champêtre contain their fair share of felicities and are delightfully scored.
These performances from Tuomas Ollila and the Tapiola Sinfonietta evince a bracing, unsentimental thrust and high degree of technical finish, though some will crave more in the way of affectionate charm and tingling atmosphere.
However, it's in the Pelleas and Melisande incidental music that these newcomers truly throw down the gauntlet. There's no hint of the customary portentous grandeur in Ollila's 'At the Castle Gate', a nervy urgency that resurfaces with a vengeance in 'Melisande at the Spinning Wheel' and the ensuing 'Entr'acte'. Elsewhere, those screaming winds and sul ponticello strings at the heart of 'At the Seashore' set one's teeth on edge, while textures throughout are uncommonly transparent. What's missing is any real sense of poignancy or pathos: 'The Death of Melisande' is very cool, the characteristically bleached string timbre emphasising the disconcertingly pristine, self-conscious mood. An intriguing and intelligent re-think, then, but not to all tastes (anyone brought up on, say, Beecham will be in for a shock). Crystal-clear, slightly clinical sound.”