movie music Archive

SIBELIUS: Scaramouche – Soloists/ Turku Philharmonic Orch./Leif Segerstam – Naxos

by Audiophile Audition | Mar 17, 2016 | Classical CD Reviews

Sibelius’ colorful theatrical score resplendently revealed. JEAN SIBELIUS: Scaramouche – Bendik Goldstein, viola – Roi Ruottinin, cello/ Turku Philharmonic Orch./Leif Segerstam – Naxos 8.573511, 71:01, *****: Jean Sibelius (1865-1957) wrote a large amount of music for the theatrical stage that deserves to be heard, and recordings are virtually the only way to hear them, unless you are fortunate enough to live in Finland. Most of these scores fall into the category of incidental music for plays and historical pageants—in the form of complete scores or suites that the composer arranged for concert performances. In his day, theatrical presenters employed orchestras to accompany their performances, some larger than symphony orchestras. These scores are the equivalent of movie music of today. Sibelius was adept at matching music with the atmosphere and emotion of a specific scene. His colorful orchestration and instrumental timbre made him one of the few major composers who excelled at writing incidental music. In 1912 Sibelius was commissioned by the Danish publisher Wilhelm Hansen to compose music for Poul Knudsen’s tragic dance pantomime Scaramouche. A few months later the composer received a revised libretto that included spoken dialogue and music for the complete pantomime rather than just a few […]