Here, conductor
Neeme Järvi deals with music that is close to home in Chandos' Kapp Family Orchestral Works; indeed,
Järvi himself would have first conducted these pieces back in his early days with the Estonian National Radio & Television Orchestra. The Kapp family has developed a musical dynasty in Estonia comparable to that of the
Andriessen family in the Netherlands, except that the Kapps have not yet produced a composer that has achieved worldwide recognition, such as
Louis Andriessen. Artur Kapp was the patriarch of this musical clan and taught the others, along with many aspiring Estonian musicians while he lived; his dramatic overture Don Carlos (1899) is a very early work, written as an examination piece and sounding in need of an ending. It is a highly interesting post-romantic piece in that it stands rather halfway between
Richard Strauss' Ein Heldenleben and
Tchaikovsky's Romeo and Juliet Fantasy Overture; it is not as slippery and chromatic as the
Strauss, nor quite as direct and repetitive as the
Tchaikovsky. Artur Kapp's later work demonstrates a looser approach toward tonality, in keeping with the developments of his time. Eugen Kapp's ballet Kalevipoeg (1947), from which a suite is taken here, is based on the Estonian National epic "Kalevipoeg." It is an extraordinary work, attractively diatonic and rife with the asymmetrical rhythms common to Estonian folk music; for the unacquainted, it also incorporates some measure of
Tchaikovsky, along with
Grieg, and yet part of it has some uproariously high-kicking, high-energy music such as one is used to in
Khachaturian's music of this era. However, superficial comparisons like these do not do it any justice; Kalevipoeg is a tremendously fun and energizing work that would be just as satisfying at twice the length this suite takes, so rich it is with fresh and exciting ideas.
If only the same were true of Villem Kapp's Symphony No. 2 in C minor, which is the longest work on the program and the least satisfying. Long stretches of this symphony are taken up with waltz rhythms better suited to ballet rather than a symphony, it lacks strong themes, and the weaker themes that it has are conspicuously underwhelming, particularly in the finale. Overall, much of it turns a crooked path from
Sibelius-lite to
Shostakovich-lite, and may demonstrate over-awareness of the silent influence the Soviet politburo had over satellite nations within the Soviet Union, such as Estonia, though it is worth pointing out that the orchestration is well accomplished. Villem Kapp was a nephew of Artur Kapp and Artur Kapp's student; he also studied with Heino Eller.
So, a score of just two of three: one great work, along with a good one that runs a tad short, and a less than good one that runs excessively long. However, Kalevipoeg is nearly good enough to justify the whole disc; perhaps someday
Järvi will find time to give us the whole ballet.