(), Op. 70, is a single-movement tone poem for soprano and orchestra written in 1913 by the Finnish composer Jean Sibelius. The piece is a setting of Runo I (lines 111–242, freely adapted) of the Kalevala, Finland's national epic, which tells the legend of how the goddess Luonnotar (the female spirit of nature) created the Earth. premiered on 10 September 1913 at the Three Choirs Festival in Gloucester, England, with Herbert Brewer conducting the festival orchestra; the soloist was the Finnish operatic diva (and frequent Sibelius collaborator) Aino Ackté, the tone poem's dedicatee. A few months later on 12 January 1914, Ackté gave its Finnish premiere, with Georg Schnéevoigt conducting the Helsinki Philharmonic Orchestra.
History
is thematically unrelated to an earlier project of Sibelius's by the same name from 1903–1905; that 'Luonnotar' (for which a fragment is extant) grew out of the abandoned oratorio Marjatta (without catalogue number) and, by 1906, had evolved into the orchestral tone poem Pohjola's Daughter (, Op. 49). In 1913, Sibelius arranged for soprano and piano.
Instrumentation is scored for the following instruments and voices, organized by family (vocalists, woodwinds, brass, percussion, and strings):
Soprano 2 flutes (each doubling on piccolo), 2 oboes, 2 clarinets (in A), 1 bass clarinet (in B), and 2 bassoons 4 horns (in F), 2 trumpets (in B), and 3 trombones Timpani (2 players) Violins (I and II), violas, cellos, double basses, and 2 harps
Music
Discography The Hungarian-American conductor Antal Doráti and the London Symphony Orchestra made the world premiere studio recording of in February 1969 for His Master's Voice; the soloist was the Welsh soprano Dame Gwyneth Jones. However, recordings of two earlier live performances by the Helsinki Philharmonic Orchestra also are commercially available: first, led by the Finnish conductor Georg Schnéevoigt in 1934, with the Finnish soprano as soloist; and second, led by the Finnish conductor Tauno Hannikainen in 1955, with the Austro-British soprano Dame Elisabeth Schwarzkopf as soloist. The table below lists these and other recordings:
ConductorOrchestraSoloistTimeRecording venueLabel1Helsinki Philharmonic Orchestra (1)1934 8:48Queen's HallWarner Classics2Helsinki Philharmonic Orchestra (2)1955 8:58?Gala3London Symphony Orchestra19699:26Wembley Town Hall EMI Classics 4New York Philharmonic19698:11Philharmonic HallSony Classical 5Bournemouth Symphony Orchestra19759:53Southampton GuildhallEMI Classics6Royal Scottish National Orchestra19779:13Glasgow City HallsChandos7Philharmonia Orchestra19809:19Kingsway HallDecca 8Gothenburg Symphony Orchestra (1)19849:00Gothenburg Concert HallBIS9Swedish Radio Symphony Orchestra? 8:20?Sterling10Moscow Philharmonic Orchestra19918:19Mosfilm StudiosBrilliant Classics 11Gothenburg Symphony Orchestra (2) (1)19928:29Gothenburg Concert HallDeutsche Grammophon 12Royal Stockholm Philharmonic Orchestra19969:18Stockholm Concert HallVirgin Classics / Erato13 (1)City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra20019:44Symphony Hall, BirminghamWarner Classics 14Staatskapelle Dresden2003 9:49SemperoperProfil15Lahti Symphony Orchestra (1) (1)20058:50Sibelius HallBIS16Helsinki Philharmonic Orchestra (3) (2)20058:49Finlandia HallOndine17Munich Radio Orchestra20069:07Bayerischer Rundfunk Studio 1 cpo18 (2)Lahti Symphony Orchestra (2)20119:09Sibelius HallBIS19Bergen Philharmonic Orchestra20188:50Grieg HallChandos
Additionally, in 2008, BIS made the world premiere studio recording of Sibelius's transcription of , with the Finnish soprano Helena Juntunen and the Finnish pianist . The table below contains additional details about this recording:
SoloistPianistTimeRecording venueLabel1 (2)20088:48BIS
Notes, references, and sources
External links