Brooklyn Philharmonic Orchestra; Northern Lights [a tribute to Finland]

thumbnail of Brooklyn Philharmonic Orchestra; Northern Lights [a tribute to Finland]
This content is not available. Please contact the contributing organization(s) listed below.
Series
Brooklyn Philharmonic Orchestra
Episode
Northern Lights [a tribute to Finland]
Producing Organization
WNYC (Radio station : New York, N.Y.)
Contributing Organization
WNYC (New York, New York)
AAPB ID
cpb-aacip/80-93ttfqh2
If you have more information about this item than what is given here, or if you have concerns about this record, we want to know! Contact us, indicating the AAPB ID (cpb-aacip/80-93ttfqh2).
Description
Description
MUSIC REVIEW MUSIC REVIEW; Hearing Nature's Sounds in a Haunting Landscape By JAMES R. OESTREICH Published: April 18, 2000 [New York Times] With all the concentration on music of the 20th century this season in New York, it could be argued that Finland has been underrepresented. Oh, there were passing glances: Kaija Saariaho's ''Oltra Mar'' in the New York Philharmonic's ''Messages for the Millennium,'' Einojuhani Rautavaara's ''On the Last Frontier'' in the American Symphony's Edgar Allan Poe program and some pieces by Magnus Lindberg at the Miller Theater. And Sibelius we always have with us. But Finland has over a century developed one of the liveliest musical cultures of any country, and a more concentrated treatment seemed altogether in order. Happily, Robert Spano and the Brooklyn Philharmonic Orchestra provided a basis on Friday evening at the Brooklyn Academy of Music with ''Northern Lights,'' a program of music by Aulis Sallinen, Rautavaara, Lindberg and Sibelius. And next week Wolfgang Sawallisch and the Philadelphia Orchestra are to give the premiere of Mr. Rautavaara's Symphony No. 8, which they play in Carnegie Hall on May 1. Mr. Spano professes to a passion for Finnish music, which would have been reason enough for him to fill the gap. But this program also figures in his thematic scheme of the century this season, representing environmental awareness: if for no other reason, one assumes, simply because of where and what Finland is. The connection was made concrete in only one work: Mr. Rautavaara's ''Cantus Arcticus'' of 1972, a concerto for birds and orchestra. The composer uses tapes of actual birdcalls (unlike Messiaen, whose instrumental birds are to be heard in the Brooklyn Philharmonic's final program, on May 13, excerpts from the opera ''St. Francois d'Assise,'' representing faith and religion). Mr. Rautavaara's tape manipulations are fascinating, especially in the haunting canon of the second movement, where the orchestra takes a supporting role. But it came to the fore beautifully elsewhere, lending a human connection to this evocation of a landscape obviously forbidding to all but large birds. The orchestra gave strong performances of Mr. Lindberg's ''Arena,'' completed in 1995, and Mr. Sallinen's ''Some Aspects of Peltoniemi Hintrik's Funeral March,'' expanded from a string quartet of 1969. The Lindberg begins with bursts of nervous energy, charges ahead, seems to turn itself inside out and finally just winds down, all in a smooth and engaging progression. Laura Park, the concertmaster, and Chris Finckel, the principal cellist, set the Sallinen variations in motion in fine and sensitive fashion. Indeed this work was a reminder of just how good the strings have become under Mr. Spano's direction. In Sibelius's Fifth Symphony, they suffered in numbers yet still managed to stir excitement at the end of the first movement. The brasses, more exposed here than in the other works, were far less impressive. Still, this was a scintillating program mostly well rendered: all typical of Mr. Spano's work in Brooklyn. Photo: Robert Spano leading the Brooklyn Philharmonic in Finnish works. (Chris Lee for The New York Times)
Genres
Performance
Media type
Sound
Duration
02:00:14
Credits
Composer: Sallinen, Aulis
Composer: Rautavaara, Einojuhani, 1928-
Composer: Lindberg, Magnus, 1958-
Composer: Sibelius, Jean, 1865-1957
Conductor: Spano, Robert
Director: Chuffo, Paul
Engineer: Haber, Edward
Engineer: Shulmister, Wayne
Engineer: Trudel, Irene
Host: Schaefer, John
Performer: Brooklyn Philharmonic Symphony Orchestra
Producing Organization: WNYC (Radio station : New York, N.Y.)
AAPB Contributor Holdings
WNYC-FM
Identifier: 68611.1 (WNYC Media Archive Label)
Format: DAT
Generation: Original
WNYC-FM
Identifier: 68611.2 (WNYC Media Archive Label)
Format: DAT
Generation: Original
WNYC-FM
Identifier: 68611.3 (WNYC Media Archive Label)
Format: DAT
Generation: Mix element
WNYC-FM
Identifier: 68611.4 (WNYC Media Archive Label)
Format: DAT
Generation: Mix element
WNYC-FM
Identifier: 68611.5 (WNYC Media Archive Label)
Format: DAT
Generation: Master
WNYC-FM
Identifier: 68611.6 (WNYC Media Archive Label)
Format: audio/vnd.wave
Generation: Dub
Duration: 02:00:14
If you have a copy of this asset and would like us to add it to our catalog, please contact us.
Citations
Chicago: “Brooklyn Philharmonic Orchestra; Northern Lights [a tribute to Finland],” WNYC, American Archive of Public Broadcasting (GBH and the Library of Congress), Boston, MA and Washington, DC, accessed August 12, 2025, http://americanarchive.org/catalog/cpb-aacip-80-93ttfqh2.
MLA: “Brooklyn Philharmonic Orchestra; Northern Lights [a tribute to Finland].” WNYC, American Archive of Public Broadcasting (GBH and the Library of Congress), Boston, MA and Washington, DC. Web. August 12, 2025. <http://americanarchive.org/catalog/cpb-aacip-80-93ttfqh2>.
APA: Brooklyn Philharmonic Orchestra; Northern Lights [a tribute to Finland]. Boston, MA: WNYC, American Archive of Public Broadcasting (GBH and the Library of Congress), Boston, MA and Washington, DC. Retrieved from http://americanarchive.org/catalog/cpb-aacip-80-93ttfqh2