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SIBELIUS: Scaramouche
Turku Philharmonic/ Leif Segerstam
Naxos 573511-71 minutes
Scaramouche (or Scaramuccia, meaning little skirmisher) is basically a clown character from the Italian commedia delTarte, though the name has been used in other endeavors. One was an eponymous pantomime by Paul Knudsen with music by Jean Sibelius. Sibelius took the assignment expecting to write music for a few dance movements but soon learned he was composing for the whole pantomime. The next unpleasant surprise was the receipt of a new libretto that added spoken dialog- unusual for a pantomime. Adding to the composer's irritation was the discovery that Knudsen's libretto had more or less plagiarized Arthur Schnitzler's novel, The Veil of Pierrette, which was the basis for a mime of that title with music by Dohnanyi. By that time, the distressed composer believed he had been trapped and said so to the publisher. Nevertheless, he completed the work in 1913. It turned out to be a success, though he had to wait for the premiere in 1922 to find out.
Scaramouche has 21 mostly short sections and is scored for a...