The song is so famous in its own right that it is often played with an ineffectual sentimentality. But under Marki’s baton, and in this orchestra — Sibelius’ sonic world etched in its bones — “Finlandia” disarms anew with its moving harmonies and iron-willed fanfare, Moderately increased dignity.
It was a delivery reminiscent of the opening of the program, the fourth legend from Sibelius’s “Lemminkäinen Suite” based on the Finnish national epic “Kalevala”. The short finale to a long piece, The Return, is all climactic, but Maruki manages to keep his cool, unleashing heavy folk aggression here and there, but mostly emphasizing the colors and ensuring a spectacular flowering. Instead of sticking around.
Saariaho’s 2001 flute concerto “L’Aile du Songe” was a quiet personal touch of programming. Her Malkki, who like Saariaho lives in Paris, is her friend and a prominent interpreter of her music. And at the Carnegie performance, Malki’s solo part was joined by her former co-star, flutist Claire Chase. (They recently brought Felipe Lara’s magnificent Double Concerto, premiered in Helsinki, to the New York Philharmonic.)
The flute—human and elemental—is one of Saariaho’s favorite instruments, for which she has written some of her most fantastic poetic music. Here, it is not a melody per se, but sings in short phrases over suspended textures that build broadly expressed gestures.
In the second movement, the soloist speaks along with the notated performance, which Chase presents with his trademark theatricality. She and the Finns showed a satisfying unity in handling some of the most exquisite details of her work. The slow decline of the heavens, rising and then waning, eventually becomes inaudible.
