0:00:13 > 0:00:16Tonight, we're going to hear a real rarity,
0:00:16 > 0:00:20an epic choral symphony by the great Finnish composer Jean Sibelius,
0:00:20 > 0:00:23which is full of passion, heroics, and violence.
0:00:23 > 0:00:26Sibelius wrote seven great numbered symphonies,
0:00:26 > 0:00:29but today, we're going to hear the precursor to the main seven,
0:00:29 > 0:00:32completed when he was just 26 years old.
0:00:32 > 0:00:36This work unites everything that mattered to Sibelius -
0:00:36 > 0:00:37Finnish national identity,
0:00:37 > 0:00:39folk culture, drama,
0:00:39 > 0:00:43and the opportunity to write on a truly symphonic scale.
0:00:43 > 0:00:46Kullervo is based on the story of one of the young heroes
0:00:46 > 0:00:49in the epic Finnish myth, the Kalevala.
0:00:49 > 0:00:51In this classic recording from 1992,
0:00:51 > 0:00:55Sir Colin Davis, a truly great interpreter of Sibelius' music,
0:00:55 > 0:00:57conducts the London Symphony Orchestra
0:00:57 > 0:00:59at the Barbican Hall in London.
0:00:59 > 0:01:02He talked about the elements of the Kullervo myth
0:01:02 > 0:01:04that Sibelius chose to explore.
0:01:04 > 0:01:07The first movement is...
0:01:07 > 0:01:11It's a big symphonic movement, I suppose.
0:01:11 > 0:01:13He had in mind
0:01:13 > 0:01:16to paint a portrait of his hero.
0:01:16 > 0:01:19Whether that is quite successful...
0:01:19 > 0:01:23when you read the poem, Kullervo is such a violent character.
0:01:23 > 0:01:28I mean, whatever he is asked to do,
0:01:28 > 0:01:32he does it to such an excess that it's a complete ruin.
0:01:32 > 0:01:34He's asked to babysit,
0:01:34 > 0:01:37and he gouges the eyes of the baby out, or wrecks the cradle.
0:01:37 > 0:01:40He's asked to build a fence,
0:01:40 > 0:01:43he builds such a colossal fence, but there's no gate in it,
0:01:43 > 0:01:46so the space inside is really no use to anybody.
0:01:46 > 0:01:50His whole life is under the shadow
0:01:50 > 0:01:52of colossal incompetence,
0:01:52 > 0:01:54which is only matched by his superhuman strength.
0:01:54 > 0:01:59And then they say, "You'd better go and pay the taxes up in Lapland,"
0:01:59 > 0:02:01and off he goes, and he pays his taxes,
0:02:01 > 0:02:04and on the way home, he feels frightfully good,
0:02:04 > 0:02:05and he grabs at this girl and that,
0:02:05 > 0:02:09and they say, "Get to hell with you, a pox on you, young man,"
0:02:09 > 0:02:12and so, the third one he grabs,
0:02:12 > 0:02:18he seduces her with his fine box of belts and gewgaws,
0:02:18 > 0:02:20and that happens which happens,
0:02:20 > 0:02:23and then she asks him, "Well, who are you?"
0:02:23 > 0:02:26And he says, "I'm the son of Kalervo, who are you?"
0:02:26 > 0:02:28And she says, "I'm the daughter of Kalervo."
0:02:28 > 0:02:31And it's clear that they are brother and sister,
0:02:31 > 0:02:35and then she leaps into a ravine,
0:02:35 > 0:02:38and he is left with his Oedipal guilt.
0:02:38 > 0:02:41So he goes off to war,
0:02:41 > 0:02:43to ruin his uncle,
0:02:43 > 0:02:46which I think he succeeds in doing, comes back home,
0:02:46 > 0:02:49and this is the last movement of the symphony.
0:02:49 > 0:02:54He wanders off to the place where he made love to his sister,
0:02:54 > 0:02:56where nothing grows any more,
0:02:56 > 0:03:00and he has a very touching conversation with his sword.
0:03:01 > 0:03:04"Will you eat guilty blood?"
0:03:04 > 0:03:06And the sword says, "It's all the same to me.
0:03:06 > 0:03:08"Innocent or guilty, I like it."
0:03:08 > 0:03:12And he sticks his sword into the ground and he falls on it.
0:03:12 > 0:03:16And then, in the poem,
0:03:16 > 0:03:20the old singer says, "Well, you see?
0:03:20 > 0:03:23"That's what happens to chaps if you don't bring them up properly!"
0:03:23 > 0:03:25It's so homely!
0:03:25 > 0:03:27And it's so touching,
0:03:27 > 0:03:31all these grotesque adventures, and that's what we're brought down to.
0:03:31 > 0:03:32APPLAUSE
0:03:32 > 0:03:34Sir Colin Davis.
0:03:39 > 0:03:40So, here to join the LSO,
0:03:40 > 0:03:43and the men of the University of Helsinki choir,
0:03:43 > 0:03:45come soprano Soile Isokoski
0:03:45 > 0:03:48and baritone Jorma Hynninen
0:03:48 > 0:03:52to perform the choral symphony of five movements, Kullervo.
0:04:09 > 0:04:12MUSIC: "Introduction"
0:15:51 > 0:15:53MUSIC: "Kullervo's Youth"
0:29:44 > 0:29:47MUSIC: "Kullervo And His Sister"
0:53:10 > 0:53:13MUSIC: "Kullervo Goes To War"
1:04:10 > 1:04:12MUSIC: "The Death Of Kullervo"
1:14:00 > 1:14:02So, that brings us to the end
1:14:02 > 1:14:05of this BBC classic performance from 1992
1:14:05 > 1:14:09of Kullervo, Sibelius' youthful choral symphony.
1:14:09 > 1:14:12The soloists were soprano Soile Isokoski
1:14:12 > 1:14:14and baritone Jorma Hynninen.
1:14:14 > 1:14:17The men of the Helsinki University Choir
1:14:17 > 1:14:19joined the London Symphony Orchestra
1:14:19 > 1:14:22and the great conductor Sir Colin Davis.
1:14:49 > 1:14:51Subtitles by Red Bee Media Ltd
1:14:51 > 1:14:53E-mail subtitling@bbc.co.uk