Sibelius Kullervo on BBC Four tonight.

[MickyD]

I thought I would flag this up for any Sibelius fans - it looks like a very rare opportunity to watch/hear a performance of the complete work.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b017gss6

[Nick Armstrong]

I thought I would flag this up for any Sibelius fans - it looks like a very rare opportunity to watch/hear a performance of the complete work.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b017gss6

Micky the PVR has been set, many thanks for the reminder!! Great chance to see Sir Colin in action, too

[Norfolk Born]

Kullervo, The Killing - no shortage of Nordic gloom as the nights pull in. But then, some of us like that sort of thing! Any chance of a Strindberg season?

[Nick Armstrong]

Kullervo, The Killing - no shortage of Nordic gloom as the nights pull in. But then, some of us like that sort of thing!

Note to self
Pick up on way home:

[RobertLeDiable]

Good for BBC 4. Kullervo is a marvellous piece that should be better known. My only slight disappointment is that Colin Davis is conducting. I know he's meant to be a leading Sibelius conductor but for my money his interpretations are over-romantic.

[amateur51]

Good for BBC 4. Kullervo is a marvellous piece that should be better known. My only slight disappointment is that Colin Davis is conducting. I know he's meant to be a leading Sibelius conductor but for my money his interpretations are over-romantic.

For my money, Sir Colin's will be the finest performance of Kullervo we'll have on BBC4 tonight

[Norfolk Born]

Good for BBC 4. Kullervo is a marvellous piece that should be better known. My only slight disappointment is that Colin Davis is conducting. I know he's meant to be a leading Sibelius conductor but for my money his interpretations are over-romantic.

I have the LSO Live CD of Sir Colin in this work and would certainly not describe the performance as over-romantic.

[Chris Newman]

Kullervo can take any number of interpretations. I have loved the work since hearing Berglund conduct the UK premiere. I put Sir Colin's LSO Live recording and Paarvo Berglund's BournemouthSO above my other recordings. Leif Segerstam has a huge advantage with Soile Isokoski the best sister on any recording. Like Davis he treats the drama in an operatic style but is just too wayward at times. At the other extreme, and extreme it is, Vanska is far too fast and metronomic, never letting the story (and the music) ebb and flow: and symphony it might be but as with some of Mahler it should have drama too which is not always achieved by being the first in the race. Many other excellent recordings have weaknesses with too provincial an orchestra or soloist. The recording by the legendary Jorma Panula on Naxos is the one super-bargain surprise that proves that occasionally a "village band" from Finland can really produce the authentic goods and put itself in with the very best up there with Sir Colin and PB.

I remember two of Sir Colin's TV Kullervo's. I hope it is the Prom version.

[EnemyoftheStoat]

Nope, it's the Barbican job, the website says: http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b017gss6

No choir though.

[Chris Newman]

In that case it is London Symphony Orchestra and LSO Men's Chorus, Peter Mattei (Baritone), Monica Groop (Mezzo Soprano), Colin Davis (Conductor). Which is more or less the same as the LSO Live recording which might have better clips from the other performance and rehearsals.

Though now looking your link it says Jorma Hynninen (Baritone) and Soile Isokoski (Soprano). The choir might be the LSO Mens or a Finnish Student choir. I did not realise Sir Colin had done the work so often in Britain. Where is King Christian II when you want him? He would know.

[Anna]

I intend to watch this, although I may also be reading at the same time and just sneaking a peek. Sibelius is a bit of a no-go area for me, so it's not as a fan, more as a novice. Why is Caliban's bottle so large, does Sibelius listening require huge amounts of it?

[Bryn]

I intend to watch this, although I may also be reading at the same time and just sneaking a peek. Sibelius is a bit of a no-go area for me, so it's not as a fan, more as a novice. Why is Caliban's bottle so large, does Sibelius listening require huge amounts of it?

Put your damned book down and direct your full attention at Kullervo, Anna. It's a masterpiece of early Sibelius, and to have Sir Colin Davis in charge is almost too good to be true on BBC television these days.

[johnb]

The broadcast is very welcome indeed but does anyone know when it dates from? It looks as though the BBC has pulled it out of the archives - Colin Davis looks markedly younger and the picture is 4:3, so it must be at least 10 years old.

[Nick Armstrong]

The broadcast is very welcome indeed but does anyone know when it dates from? It looks as though the BBC has pulled it out of the archives - Colin Davis looks markedly younger and the picture is 4:3, so it must be at least 10 years old.

I hastened here having watched a few minutes (I'm recording the late night repeat) to ask that specific question and make those very points, johnb.

And Anna... it's a long piece. Plus an hour of The Killing 2...

[Bryn]

Hopefully there will be some indication of when it dates from when the closing credits roll.