Tubin: Kratt; Bacewicz, Lutoslawski

by Paavo Jaervi, Estonian Festival Orchestra

Overview

When the various members of the Jaervi conducting family turn to Estonian music, the results range from good to absolutely delightful, and there is an example of the latter on this 2023 release by Paavo Jaervi. It is the titular work, which opens the program and was Estonia's first ballet when it was premiered in 1944 and had six performances before the theater presenting it was destroyed. It is a somewhat helter-skelter work with a peasant setting and some bracing folkish music that resulted from the influence of Zoltan Kodaly; it was also recorded by Neeme Jaervi, so one may take the work as a family favorite. There is another work by Tubin on the program, the Music for Strings, from slightly later and reflecting the overwhelming influence Bartok had in post-World War II Eastern Europe. The Tubin works are paired with more recent Polish works, and the notes stress the affinities between these two musical cultures that were temporarily smothered by Soviet cultural power. Grazyna Bacewicz's Concerto for string orchestra is an elegant neoclassic work, but the program ends on an extremely downbeat note with the Musique funebre for string orchestra of Witold Lutoslawski, a grim work that is no lofty oration in memory of Bartok (it was written on the occasion of the tenth anniversary of his death) but a cry of pain that brings to mind the grim slow movements of Shostakovich's later years. Perhaps its inclusion at the end is meant to suggest that in this part of the world, the Reaper is never far away. Whatever the case, it receives a fine emotional performance from Jaervi and the Estonian Festival Orchestra. This is an entirely distinctive collection of Eastern European pieces that most listeners from outside the region will not have heard, and it has a strongly personal flavor. ~ James Manheim

Product Details

Release Date:	06/23/2023
Label:	Alpha
UPC:	3701624510063
Rank:	124943

Tracks

1. Suite from the Ballet Kratt~Introduction / Peasant Dance / Dance of the Goblin
2. Suite from the Ballet Kratt~Long Dance / Peasant Waltz / Buck Dance
3. Suite from the Ballet Kratt~Interlude / Dance of the Exorcists / The Goat / The Cock / Dance of the Northern Lights
4. Concerto for String Orchestra~Allegro
5. Concerto for String Orchestra~Andante
6. Concerto for String Orchestra~Vivo
7. Music for Strings~Moderato
8. Music for Strings~Allegro
9. Music for Strings~Adagio
10. Musique Funébre~Prologue
11. Musique Funébre~Metamorphosis
12. Musique Funébre~Apogeum
13. Musique Funébre~Epilogue

Album Credits

Performance Credits

Paavo Jaervi   Primary Artist,Conductor
Estonian Festival Orchestra   Primary Artist,Orchestra
Didier Martin   Director

Technical Credits

Valerie Lagarde   Design
Eduard Tubin   Composer
Witold Lutoslawski   Composer
Grazyna Bacewicz   Composer
Aude-Marie Piloz   Editing,Mastering,Recording Producer
Nele-Eva Steinfeld   Liner Notes
Kaupo Kikkas   Photography,Cover Photo
Susanne Lowien   Liner Note Translation
Amelie Boccon-Gibod   Editorial Coordinator
Ats Treimaa   Engineer
Louise Burel   Producer
Aline Lugand-Gris Souris   Artwork
Pirjo Jonas   Liner Note Translation
Anton Ventsel   Engineer
Andres Olema   Engineer
Dennis Collins   Liner Note Translation