Review of
Piano Music from Finland
A Finnish Musical Tour with Craig Randal Johnson, Pianist
In the New World Finn, January 2003, by Tracey Gibbens
" Finnish-American Pianist Craig Randal Johnson has put together a triumphant disc that will attract the casual and more serious listeners alike. Calling this disc 'A Finnish Musical Tour,' Johnson works his way through an airy program that displays the great variety of Finnish pianistic thought from the last 100 years. Though several of the selections will be familiar to those with a nodding acquaintance of Finnish music, there are also little heard gems that will be a pleasant revelation to the curious.
Pelimanit (The Fiddlers) Op. 1 provides us a glimpse of an early work by Einojuhani Rautavaara, who would become the dean of Finnish composition of the late 20th century. Written in 1953, it draws on tunes found in the notebook of 18th century Ostrobothnian folk fiddler Samuel Rinda-Nickola. Each of six parts describes a scene from past folklife. Though the pianistic writing brings to mind Debussy and Poulenc, the individualistic expression is totally and wonderfully Rautavaara.
Several selections by Finnish Romantic composers may be familiar. Sibelius is represented here by Kuusi (The Spruce), and the Romance in D-flat, and his brother-in-law Armas Järnfelt (1869-1958) by the hauntingly beautiful Berceuse. Leevi Madetoja (1887-1947) was of the generation following Sibelius, and his Vanha Muisto (An Old Memory) and Berceuse are also prime examples of Finnish Romanticism, as is Kevätyö (May Night) by Selim Palmgren(1878-1951).
A major work and a delightful surprise is found in Surullinen Puutarha (The Melancholy Garden), Op. 52, by Erkki Melartin (1875-1937). Though he did not achieve fame outside Finland, he was a pioneering spirit in Finland. As director of the Helsinki Academy, he directed the earliest performances of the music of Mahler in the Nordic countries, and assimilated the style of the French Impressionists in his own music. The Melancholy Garden is impressionistic in style, and in five movements spanning almost 25 minutes Melartin demonstrates a unique musical voice. With the date of composition shortly after 1900, when impressionistic pianism was in a very early state, this is all the more impressive!
Matti Tuhkala (1919-2002) was a well-known personage in folk music circles and a regular participant on violin and kantele at the annual folk festival in Kaustinen. His Romanssi Kanteleelle, (Romance Fantasy) is evocative and unpretentious, and receives its premier recording here.
Another rewarding surprise was found in the music of Joonas Kokkonen (1921-1996). Kokkonen was a major composer of the post-war period, and his Five Bagatelles reflect his artistic flight from formal 12-tone composition toward a freer, more romantic style that brings to mind the work of Messiaen. Very pianistic, with pyrotechnical passages alternating with restrained non-tonal chorale-like sections, these are delightful and weighty pieces, which wear well on repeated listenings.
Erik Bergman’s (1911-) Omaggio a Cristoforo Colombo (The Voyage of Christopher Columbus) was written in 1991 as a commission for the 500th anniversary of the new world. It is evocative in its two scenes, successfully evoking the clashing of cultures through tone clusters and block chords alternating in at times furiously energetic dialogue.
Throughout this incredibly diverse and demanding program, Craig Randal Johnson demonstrates a sure technique and an astonishing ability communicate the music soul of each piece. The sonics are intimate, but not too close, as if one were hearing him perform in a salon in a large residence. This sonic intimacy serves the music well, and Johnson’s control of the keyboard maintains beauty of tone throughout. (Available from Tonttu Productions at www.Tonttu.com.) "