Anne Sofie von Otter reviews
Offenbach: Orphée aux Enfers
Kathryn Lewek, Joel Prieto, et al; Vienna Philharmonic/Enrique Mazzola (Unitel/DVD)
Caroline Shaw: Is a Rose; The Listeners
Anne Sofie von Otter (mezzo-soprano), et al; Philharmonia Chorale/Nicholas McGegan (Philharmonia Baroque)
A Simple Song: works by Bernstein, Copland, Mahler et al
Anne Sofie von Otter; Bengt Forsberg, Sharon Bezaly, et al (BIS)
null
undefined
Hannu Lintu conducts Sibelius's Tapiola, En Saga and Eight Songs
The word ‘sacred’ can also mean ‘set apart’, which may explain the strange fate of Sibelius’s Tapiola. Routinely it’s listed among the composer’s supreme achievements, yet it’s hardly ever heard in concert. When it appears on record it’s usually as a coupling, and even then conductors seem disinclined to take any risks with it. It’s marvellous then to find a conductor taking a genuinely fresh approach. Hannu Lintu’s Tapiola isn’t the grey, remote expanse so many make of it.