Sibelius - Three sonatinas op. 67

[fnork]

A very rewarding set of Sonatinas by Sibelius - sparse, simplistic, but always interesting. Hope you'll enjoy the pieces as much as I do:

Nr 1 in F# minor: https://app.box.com/s/p8mnsagbe1i86jtrxep4

Nr 2 in E major: https://app.box.com/s/50y7k1qd40u1tcwjrads

Nr 3 in Bb minor: https://app.box.com/s/fbel27wqha0g5x78ao01

[cbreemer]

Kudos for including some Sibelius in your repertoire. I hope that's not just because you work in Helsinki ;-)
Sibelius' piano works are treated with disdain all too often. He was not a great piano composer by any stretch, and there's quite some rubble among his sprawling output. But sometimes he could write very attractive pieces. I'm particularly fond of his 'trees' and ' flowers' sets (op.75 resp 85) and his late sketches. The Sonatinas and Kyllikki are a bit more abstract and ambitious, and good
enough for Glenn Gould made a case for them. I regret that Sibelius did not compose a piano concerto, it could have been as dark and gritty as that by Vaughan Williams. I'll listen to these recordings later and comment a bit more.

[cbreemer]

I've played though these pieces a couple of times over the years but somehow failed to build sufficient rapport with them to persevere. So I don't really know them intimately enough to offer
any detailed feedback. They're good pieces though ! Maybe a little formulaic but also quirky and
entertaining. And you certainly do your best for them, solid and convincing playing as one
would expect from you. Pity about the rather recessed sound.

[fnork]

Thanks for listening to these and commenting! Yes, the sound quality wasn't the best - I'm sorry about that. It's been interesting studying these pieces - like you say, they are quite a bit more 'abstract' and formulaic than some other Sibelius pieces, but I find them quite ingenious. Such small motivic ideas, he seems to have a great time building a movement out of almost nothing.

Kudos for including some Sibelius in your repertoire. I hope that's not just because you work in Helsinki ;-)

I would most likely include this in my repertoire sooner or later, but the fact that I live in Helsinki indeed had something to do with that I got a request to record these pieces next month