Kalevala's gentle giants
Amal Choucri Catta samples the delights of the North
20th Century Music Festival, Cairo Symphony Orchestra, conductor Espen Selvik, soloist Mario Carbotta, flute; Hugo Alfven Swedish Rhapsody, Carl Nielsen Concerto for Flute and Orchestra, Jean Sibelius Symphony No 2 in D-Major, Opus 43; Cairo Opera House, Main Hall, 5 April "
I feel very small," declared the Norwegian giant Epsen Selvik at the close of this extraordinary night at the opera. "I feel very small here in Cairo, in the land of such an old and great civilisation." Stretching his arms towards the orchestra, he added, "Look at you. You are so far away from the North, and yet you have an orchestra capable of Scandinavian and Russian music, of Alfven, Nielsen, Tchaikovsky." Winking, he began to show the audience the primitive origins of the horn, the instrument with which he had started, giving them a taste of its original sound. Delighted, the audience gave him a rapturous standing ovation. We had expected excellence and brilliance, but neither such charm nor such warmth, rendered all the more remarkable through coming in straight from the Scandinavian cold. Nor was it simply attitude.
This grand charmeur proved a fascinating conductor, giving us music we seldom hear live. Expertly leading the orchestra through subtly difficult tunes and dynamic rhythms, he delivered not only tremendous crescendos, heart-rending pianissimi and heroic finales but humour -- a rare commodity indeed on a stage dedicated to symphonic music. So, at least, we thought. Until Selvik appeared with his horn. He positively shattered the illusion that northerners are a cold and humourless lot. Entitled "Northern Flair," the Saturday concert closed the 20th Century Music Festival on a far from chilly note, featuring three of Scandinavia's best known composers -- Hugo Alfven, Carl Nielsen and Johann Christian Sibelius -- beautifully interpreted by Selvik. Rich and varied, the concert was rendered all the more enchanting by the inclusion of a haunting solo by Italian flautist Mario Carbotta.
Of the three Swedish Rhapsodies Alfven wrote, the first, Opus 19, is by far the most popular. Written in 1904 under the title Midsomarvaka (Midsummer Vigil), it opens with a lively little melody, which was turned into a pleasant song some 40 years ago: "Come, little Swedish maid/ Dance with me..." The song, so faithful to the spirit of the music, goes on to describe "the season of light, when nature awakens to playful emotions and people are happy." Selvik's baton sparkled appropriately on through the enchanting filigree, captivating the orchestra, whose performance testified to growing absorption, as well as the audience. For some, this was the long-awaited return of Swedish music, following conductor Kamal Hilal's efforts to introduce it some 10 years ago. Hilal had lived and worked in Sweden, but his attempts to bring about a cooperation between the Cairo Opera and Swedish institutions had not met with success. At last, on Saturday, his efforts were being rewarded.
Selvik moved quickly from Sweden to Denmark, presenting Nielson's remarkably colourful Concerto for Flute and Orchestra. A relative newcomer to Cairo's music scene, Nielsen was born in 1865 and became a military trumpeter at the age of 14. An exceptionally talented child, he formed his own string quartet at the age of 17 and became a violinist at the Royal Chapel Orchestra at 24. He had completed his studies at the Copenhagen Conservatoire, of which he became director in 1931. Outside Denmark his music remained relatively unknown, but following World War II, the originality and power of his symphonies acted to spread his music elsewhere. His Fifth Symphony is an enchanting piece in which the drummer is instructed to improvise so as to drown the rest of the orchestra; and his First is one of the earliest examples of progressive tonality, beginning in one key, ending in another. Nielson dominated Danish music until his death, bequeathing an impressive body of work including three operas, six symphonies, choral, chamber and incidental music as well as piano sonatas. His flute concerto, with which Selvik graced the Main Hall on this occasion, is one of five he intended to write for his woodwind quintet, but when he died in 1931 he had completed only two: one for flute and one for clarinet.
And it was not for nothing that a virtuoso like Carbotta was selected for the former. He gave an appropriately splendid performance. His melodic directness, rhythmic energy and expressive sense were thrilling, so was his technical mastery of the music. Born in Vigevano in 1962, he completed his studies at the Fievole Music School, earning many awards and performing in Europe, the Middle East, Asia and the United States. He has appeared in some of the world's most glamorous concert halls, producing an impressive discography. Enthralling Cairo's audience, he lived up to his reputation. Selvik's ability facilitated transitions, making for an altogether breathtaking episode and building up to what was arguably the evening's best appreciated treat: Sibelius.
The entire second half of the concert, in fact, was devoted to the great Finnish composer. Born in 1865 and generally known as Jean or simply Jan, Sibelius started composing prior to receiving technical instruction as a child. He went on to learn the piano and the violin, with the intention of becoming a virtuoso in the latter, while studying composition in music textbooks. And although he enrolled at Helsinki University as a law student in 1885, he attended extracurricular courses at the Conservatoire. Within a year, however, he had abandoned law entirely and during the Russian domination, while nationalist sentiments were running high, he composed Kallervo, a super-symphonic poem for male choir, orchestra and soloists based on the Finnish epic of Kalevala, on which Sibelius based many works besides, including Pohjola's Daughter and Lemminkainen. A great success, this piece was nonetheless quickly withdrawn, never to be performed again until the composer's death.
In 1897, following a vote, the Finnish state began to provide Sibelius with an annual pension to enable him to devote himself entirely to musical composition. His world famous Finlandia, which acquired the status of a national anthem, dates from 1899, the year of Sibelius' first visit to Italy. Blending his own distinct voice with a Slavic romanticism derived from Tchaikovsky, he had by then completed his First Symphony. His Second Symphony testifies more amply to his tendency to employ short themes, working them gradually into a larger entity. It also demonstrates clearly Sibelius's predilection for long, atmospheric string passages, which tended to be linked indelibly to the Finnish wind.
Gustav Mahler famously visited Sibelius in Helsinki. Discussing "all the great questions of music thoroughly", the conversation they undertook on that occasion remains a landmark in the history of music. To Sibelius, the most important quality was severity of style, the profound logic that creates an inner connection among all its motifs. Mahler, on the other hand, insisted that a symphony should be like the world, embracing everything. Isolated due to World War I, Sibelius celebrated his 50th birthday by composing his Fifth Symphony, which remains among his most popular works. In the remaining 26 years of his life -- in 1931 he wrote and quickly destroyed an Eighth Symphony -- Sibelius never published another note, preferring silence.
That said, he remained a dominant figure till the end, assuming the status of a national hero in Finland and a towering figure in England and the United States, though not in France or Germany. His symphonies remain among the most important and popular works of Scandinavian music. It was only appropriate, therefore, that the present concert should end with his Second. Opening like a quiet, pastoral morning, it develops into a passionate adagio ma non troppo, with the second movement sounding somewhat reminiscent of an intense and tragic funereal march. It wasn't until a tremendously emotional crescendo, however, that Selvik brought the last, glorious movement to the end. The applause was so intense it became almost delirious; and despite the surrounding political turmoil, the music festival ended happily, proving both that music is alive and well and that the North has warm territories.
Al-Ahram Weekly Online : 10 -16 April 2003 (Issue No. 633)
Located at: http://weekly.ahram.org.eg/2003/633/cu1.htm