Sibelius Tapiola // London Symphony Orchestra & Sir Simon Rattle

Sir Simon Rattle conducts Sibelius's Tapiola, recorded live in concert at the Barbican in London on 18 September 2022.

Sir Simon Rattle: conductor
London Symphony Orchestra

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
#lso2022 #YouTubeSundays
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Follow the LSO on:

[artemakin]

It might be one of Sibelius' finest works. Truly a masterpiece.

[late]

Greetings from Finland! 🇫🇮🤝🏻🇬🇧
Thank you for playing one of the masterpieces of our beloved composer! What an amazing interpretation.

[englishrose]

OMG it gives me shivers. Thank you, Jean Sibelius

[bozenaradaj]

I love the music of Jean Sibelius 💓. Thanks 🙏

[Janaceks_Dad]

This has to be one of the most terrifying pieces of music ever written

[mateuszfandri]

I love this performance! Thanks a lot to the brilliant musicians!
Sibelius wrote "Tapiola" in fabulous fashion, deriving all musical ideas from simple motiv from the beginning, building extraordinary orchestral colours, both meditative touching parts and driving climaxes, depicting forest in it's entirety, where depths of nature mistery are recognized in many ways: sensous, biological and mythological and even personal. What a piece!

[LucienMarine]

The symphonic poem Tapiola, Op. 112, addresses the theme of « Tapio » who is the mythological spirit of the mysterious and isolated forests of northern Finland who figures prominently in of the epic poetry of the Kalevala. This eerie, haunting music evokes desolate landscapes, icy harshness, the strange play of light in northern latitudes, ancient, mysterious, dark wild dreams (described in a quatrain in the partition). She releases something eternal and dantesque. This poem begins with an austere summation in the timpani, then unfolds with a similar sense of deep logic, developing from a single central motif that is heard in the opening bars of the strings. Music critic Alex Ross called this last symphonic poem « Sibelius's most severe and concentrated musical statement ». Tapiola is filled with eerie, ghostly voices that sometimes emerge just above the silence. At times the tonal center completely dissolves and we are left with pure sound. The room's vast, windswept soundscape describes the kind of music Sibelius heard just before sinking into the silence of its final decades. The latest works of the greatest composers often give us glimpses of strange and terrifying revelations. With Tapiola, we feel like Sibelius is opening the door to something beyond. Since it is so, turn off any background noise in your saloon and listen carefully to the layers of sound that form Jean Sibelius' orchestral swan song. *Lucien*

In Pohjola there are thick and dark forests
who dream wild dreams, forever secret.
The dwellings strange of Tapio are here
and half-glimpsed spirits and voices of twilight.
*Jean Sibelius*

[DaestrumManitz]

Simon has brought the rain. Great interpretation and performance!

[bilahn]

Simon Rattle, who knew? A near perfect performance of this magnificent tone poem. BIG thumbs up for me.

[barneyboy]

If he had written nothing else, this piece alone would have ensured his greatness.

[MegaVicar]

Bravo! A very fine rendition of a masterpiece. Thanks for the upload!

[Tortuosit]

I must say Rattle is not popular amongst critics and collectors... but this one is amongst the top Tapiolas. Well played.
16:24 violinist to the right, he feels the music.

[vitocortesi]

Simon Rattle è un grande Direttore forse il migliore con Muti e Mehta non capisco come mai non è stato ancora incaricato di dirigere il Capodanno di Vienna dopo 13 anni ai Berliner la London Symphony ed dal 2024 alla Radio Sinfonica Bavarese

[DavidA-psqr]

Sibelius' last orchestral piece. Written in 1926. He died in 1957.

[williampeters]

This is sublime. I'm dancing on a cloud made of chocolate chip cheesecake.

[timpyle]

The original score is prefaced by a quatrain which in english is: "Wide-spreaf they stand, the Nirthland's dusky forests, , ancient, mysterious, brooding savage dreams; Within them dwells the Forest 's mighty God, and wood-sprites in the gloom weave magic secrets. "
BTW: Tapio is the God of the Forests in finnish mythology.

[staffanolofsson]

Even if sir Simon Rattles version is OK I prefer the uptakings with Neeme Järvi, Paavo Berglund and Leif Segerstam.

[audunstolpe]

It is good, but a bit classical and restrained perhaps? The piece really shines when the music takes the dirt and debris with it in its surge through the forest. This is Sibelius mutating classical music into a different art with artistic aims that are no longer aligned with the german tradition. Tapiola is not noble, romantic or lofty (not that there is anything wrong with any of that). It is not even passionate, just as nature itself is not. It is real. The awe inspiring sound of the terrible mother that will hold us all to account, even Tapio.