With the title A Five-Star Sibelius Celebration, the Ondine label is not providing a critical estimation of the quality of the disc. Rather, it indicates that five different soloists are performing five sets of works by the great Finnish modernist. Whether or not those soloists are in fact stars is left up to the listener.
The best-known name here is undoubtedly
Karita Mattila's. The clarion soprano has appeared in opera houses around the world, and her set of six songs accompanied by pianist
Ilmo Ranta are as strongly sung and powerfully characterized as her Jenufa and Salome. Perhaps the next-best-known name is
Monica Groop's. The warm-toned mezzo-soprano has endeared herself to international listeners with her many excellent lieder recordings, and for them, her group of Ariel's five songs excerpted from the music for The Tempest with the Opera Festival Chorus and
Finnish Radio Symphony Orchestra under
Jukka-Pekka Saraste, while wonderfully sung, may be regarded as too little of a good thing. Some collectors might recall pianist
Olli Mustonen's terrific series of recordings for Decca, particularly his fire-breathing romp through
Hindemith's Ludus Tonalis, but fewer might remember his stylish yet soulful all-Sibelius disc from which these 10 charming Bagatelles, Op. 34, are taken. Avid fans of Finnish opera will recognize
Jorma Hynninen's name from the baritone's many recordings of operas by Merikanto, Rautavaara, and Sallinen, and they may likewise already know his commanding recording of Sibelius' songs accompanied by
Leif Segerstam leading the
Tampere Philharmonic from which these seven songs are excerpted. Few, maybe, will recognize
Pekka Kuusisto's name, but since the young violinist has only been making records since the turn of the millennium, that situation is understandable. His recording here of the two Serenades with the
Tapiola Sinfonietta is beautifully played and may serve to introduce
Kuusisto to a larger audience. Although recorded between 1994 and 2005, Ondine's digital sound is uniformly crisp, clean, and colorful.