This Chandos SACD release marks the third instalment in Rumon Gamba’s fascinating exploration of lesser-known Finnish orchestral repertoire with the Oulu Sinfonia – Finland’s northernmost professional orchestra. As with its predecessors, the programme casts a welcome spotlight on music that sits beyond the familiar canon dominated by Jean Sibelius, while still keeping the country’s most eminent composer at its centre.

The programme on this disc spans two generations of Finnish composers. Jean Sibelius (1865 -1957) and Selim Palmgren (1878–1951), both born in the 19th century, are joined by 20th-century figures Einar Englund (1916–1999) and Kalervo Tuukkanen (1909–1979). Together, their works offer a varied and absorbing survey of Finnish orchestral writing across the first half of the 20th century.

Sibelius is not typically associated with ballet, making ‘Scaramouche’ something of a curiosity. Commissioned in 1912 as a two-act ballet-pantomime, the score is undeniably uneven and unlikely to rank among the essentials, even for devoted Sibelians. Nevertheless, it contains flashes of invention and theatrical flair. Extracts were later arranged into a concert suite by the composer’s brother-in-law, the conductor Jussi Jalas. Here, the present recording features an effective eight-movement, 20-minute sequence compiled by Rumon Gamba. In this form, the music proves far more persuasive, offering a colourful glimpse into a rarely explored corner of Sibelius’s output.

Sibelius’s younger contemporary Selim Palmgren, probably better known for his piano music, is represented by his ‘Cinderella Suite’, written for the play ‘Tuhkimo and the Princess’. Lasting around 20 minutes, it deftly captures the fairy-tale atmosphere with skill and imagination. Palmgren’s orchestration is often magical, particularly in the dances and intermezzi, which evoke the grace and delicacy of the story with appropriate finesse.

Einar Englund, who studied composition with Aaron Copland in the United States in 1949 and, like Sibelius composed seven symphonies, also made a significant contribution to Finnish film music. His score for Erik Blomberg’s 1952 film ‘The White Reindeer’ won international acclaim, and the brief suite included here provides an evocative glimpse into that sound world. Though concise, it effectively conveys the stark, atmospheric quality of the film’s narrative.

The programme concludes with Kalervo Tuukkanen’s ‘Christmas Suite’ from 1953, a charming and accessible work that rounds off the disc on a warm and appealing note.

Throughout, the Oulu Sinfonia responds with commitment to Gamba’s direction. They play with impressive balance, control, and polish – qualities that have been consistently evident across this series. The woodwind section, in particular, deserves special mention for its characterful phrasing, tonal refinement, and consistently eloquent contributions. Gamba’s conducting is attentive to detail and shapes each work with clarity and purpose, ensuring that this less familiar repertoire makes a strong impression.

The recordings, made at the Madetoja Concert Hall in Oulu between 26 and 28 May 2025, are exemplary. The Take 5 Music Production team – Marion Schwebel (recording engineer) and Ingo Petry (producer, mixing and mastering) – provide sound that is both clear and finely detailed, allowing the orchestral textures to register with impressive presence.

Excellent liner notes by Daniel M. Grimley further enhance the listening experience, providing valuable context for these neglected works.

While not every piece here is of equal stature, the disc as a whole offers an engaging and finely played collection that sheds fresh light on Finland’s rich but too rarely explored orchestral heritage performed with conviction and benefiting from Chandos’s typically first-rate engineering.

Copyright © 2026 Graham Williams and HRAudio.net

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