Helvi Leiviskӓ: Orchestral Works, Vol. 1 (CD Review)

by Ryan Ross

Sinfonia brevis, Op. 30; Orchestral Suite No. 2, Op. 11; Symphony No. 2, Op. 27. Dalia Stasevska, conductor; Lahti Symphony Orchestra (Sinfonia Lahti). BIS-2701

 

I wish performers and critics would spend more time promoting music like Helvi Leiviskä’s. True, it comes off as fairly conservative and will not titillate too many elite tastes. If her style occupies a middle ground between Romanticism and Modernism (traditionally defined), it nonetheless favors the former. Somewhat unfairly, Finnish classical music after Sibelius often gets measured by his example – a ridiculously steep benchmark against which Leiviskä acquits herself very respectably. But to anyone for whom these things aren’t the kiss of death, much joyful discovery awaits. What we have here are gorgeous, sumptuously scored orchestral works that deserve exposure. Dalia Stasevska and the Lahti Symphony Orchestra make a good case for them with a recording that goes firmly into the “recommended” category. 

 

The most immediately appealing music on this disc is the Orchestral Suite No. 2 (1937-1938). It consists of four brief to medium-length pieces (“The Coming of Spring,” “Humoresque,” “Lullaby,” and Epilogue”), which originated in a score composed for Nyrki Tapiovaara’s film Juha. Eila Tarasti’s fantastic liner notes relay that this was one of the first Finnish films to have specifically composed music featured throughout its run time. I would be curious to hear it in such a setting. As merely a standalone orchestral suite, it shows Leiviskä at her most melodious, much more extroverted than in both accompanying symphonies here. 

As a symphonist Leiviskä was nothing if not assured. Both the Sinfonia brevis and the Second Symphony testify to her keen grasps of thematic integration, dramatic contrast, and timbral color. These works predictably require more focused listening than the suite, but they are quite followable and compelling given that. The Sinfonia brevis is a good introduction to Leiviskä’s symphonism both because of its shorter length and its concentration on just a couple of juxtaposed musical ideas. The first of these is an elegant theme that recurs in different settings, and acts as the chief thread throughout the whole structure. The Second Symphony actually predates the Sinfonia brevis (in its pre-revised version) by nearly a decade. It is a back-weighted work, the three movements of which get successively longer. The first two of these proceed through a wider range of expression than the Sinfonia brevis, increasing in overall intensity until just before the finale. But this last movement for me is the most poignant part of the whole work. Here the tempo slows to Andante cantabile. As the liner notes suggest, this calm stretch reminds one of Shostakovich. But there is something else present, too. The closing moments exude a special magic as the solo violin with sparse accompaniment states and elaborates upon portions of the plaintive main theme. It would not take much imagination to connect this passage to Leiviskä’s personal brand of mysticism. 

In recent years Helvi Leiviskä’s music has enjoyed rediscovery. Some quick internet searching makes it difficult to offer more than a fair estimate, but it seems that we can expect another several discs in BIS’s new series devoted to her orchestral works. Remaining to be recorded in it, ostensibly, are two more numbered symphonies, a piano concerto, and various other works. Perhaps more will come to light than is immediately apparent. In the meantime, we have an extremely good start with this first installment. This is music of craft, beauty, and integrity. It won’t beat anyone over the head, but maybe that’s just what listeners might find they want if they try it.