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Armas Järnefelt
Posted by Nils-Göran Olve on April 4, 2022, 8:12 am
The two reviews of Järnefelt's piano music rather underestimate his importance as one of three leading Finnish conductors during the first half of the 20th century (Kajanus, Schnéevoigt and Järnefelt), and as chief conductor of the Royal Opera in Stockholm for a quarter-century. His recorded legacy is less than ideal, but Carl-Gunnar Åhlen's scholarly collection of all on 10 CDs (Fuga 9391; 2016) contains many hours of commercial and noncommercial orchestral recordings, including three symphonies by his brother-in-law Sibelius. There are also some of his own works with him as pianist and conductor. When it came out one of your reviewers hinted at a forthcoming review, but I have not seen it.
Re: Armas Järnefelt
Posted by Ralph Moore on April 6, 2022, 6:43 pm, in reply to "Armas Järnefelt"
I asked a Finnish friend for his thoughts on Järnefelt and he replied: "It is true, that Järnefelt’s meaning to the local cultural life was remarkable. Of his recordings, I have nice memories of the Andante Festivo. The Järnefelts were big in Finland; Aino we all know, and his brother Eero, a great painter, Arvid who was a Tolstoi-influenced writer - and their mother, who also had quite a lot influence.
I doubt,however, that many persons here have studied that 10 cd box - there might be some interesting items in it, however."
He also provided this link to a piece Järnefelt wrote which he says is well-known in Finland:
saying "There are more dynamic readings of the piece, but it is essentially a sentimental, slow piece."
Previous Message
The two reviews of Järnefelt's piano music rather underestimate his importance as one of three leading Finnish conductors during the first half of the 20th century (Kajanus, Schnéevoigt and Järnefelt), and as chief conductor of the Royal Opera in Stockholm for a quarter-century. His recorded legacy is less than ideal, but Carl-Gunnar Åhlen's scholarly collection of all on 10 CDs (Fuga 9391; 2016) contains many hours of commercial and noncommercial orchestral recordings, including three symphonies by his brother-in-law Sibelius. There are also some of his own works with him as pianist and conductor. When it came out one of your reviewers hinted at a forthcoming review, but I have not seen it.