Album

Finnish label Ondine's release of The King Goes Forth to France is the first recording of the 1984 opera by Aulis Sallinen on a libretto by Paavo Haavikko. Haavikko is one of the most renowned figures in contemporary Finnish literature, and The King Goes Forth to France has its origins in a radio play presented on Finnish Radio a decade earlier. It is a post-apocalyptic tale of an unspecified King of England who moves onto the continent, defeating and killing the armies of the Western lands after the British Isles are frozen over during an encroaching ice age. The story is rather nonsensical and is, by turns, whimsical and violent, written completely without regard for chronology or developments in technology and weaponry—various eras both historical and current collide in the course of the opera. It bears a trace of influence from Frenchman Alfred Jerry's play Ubu Roi with one main exception being the addition of four women, two named Caroline and two named Anne, whose place it is to win the heart of the King; however, none of them ultimately succeed in this task. In the booklet, The King Goes Forth to France is described as "a fairy tale for adults," but fairy tales often come with an implied moral, and this work does not have one—it is a weird fantasy about imperialism mixed with environmental concerns, which, nonetheless, does not take a side or a stand on either issue.

One aspect about The King Goes Forth to France that is unusual isSallinen's music; one would expect such a text to go hand-in-hard with an ultra-modernistic score. However, outside of some rare dramatic stings that fit to action given within the text, there is nothing more "modern" sounding in The King Goes Forth to France than anything that appears in Shostakovich's Katerina Ismailova; indeed, Sondheim's Sweeney Todd is probably a "thornier" work overall than this one. This rather conservative musical treatment is in keeping with Haavikko's own tastes; introduced to Finnish arts as an avant-garde, "angry young man" in the 1950s, Haavikko later tempered his work to incorporate preferences drawn from more traditional kinds of writing, and in 2006 Haavikko is viewed as the "grand old man" of literature in his home country. One cannot imagine more effective advocacy for The King Goes Forth to France than the performance on this CD—the cast is perfect, and the Helsinki Philharmonic Orchestra under Okko Kamu does a terrific job of showing this score off to its best effect. English speakers will definitely want to keep the book at hand, as sung Finnish, which sounds a little like Russian, is certainly not a language that one can pick up on the meaning of here and there as one might be able to do with an opera that is in French or German. For those who like contemporary operas that are neither clangorous nor too hard on the ears, The King Goes Forth to France will prove a pleasant surprise, although a DVD issue of the opera itself, with subtitles, might have been a better option yet.

© Uncle Dave Lewis , All Music Guide

CD 1 of 2
Aulis Sallinen Composer The King Goes Forth to France, opera in 3 acts ("Kuningas lähtee Ranskaan "), Op.53 Work 2:07:52 Kirsi Thum Soprano, Niklas Spängberg Bass, Tommi Hakala Baritone, Hannu Norjanen Choirmaster, Helsinki Philharmonic Orchestra Orchestra, Tuomas Katajala Tenor, Tapiola Chamber Choir (Men) Chorus/Choir, Mari Palo Soprano, Mari Malo Soprano, Tuomas Tuloisela Bass, Tapiola Chamber Choir Chorus/Choir, Finnish Philharmonic Choir Chorus/Choir, Hannu Horjanen Choirmaster, Riikka Rantanen Soprano, Jyrki Anttila Tenor, Janne Sundqvist Bass, Finnish Philharmonic Chorus (Men) Chorus/Choir, Jyrki Korhonen Bass, Tapiola Chamber Choir (Women) Chorus/Choir, Laura Nykanen Contralto, Herman Wallén Baritone, Okko Kamu Conductor, Jussi Myllys Tenor, Santeri Kinnunen Spoken Word, Finnish Philharmonic Chorus (Women) Chorus/Choir, Arttu Kataja Baritone, Lilli Paasikivi Mezzo-Soprano
1	Act 1. Prologue. If England catches cold and shivers	6:19			$0.99
2	Act 1. Scene 1. Why don't we thaw out and try to speak, ladies	6:56			$0.99
3	Act 1. Scene 2. You've permitted the winter snow to fall on the ladies' hair	13:30			$2.49
4	Act 1. Scene 3. I must've heard wrong	8:11			$1.49
5	Act 1. Scene 4. Is the water frozen?	7:04			$1.49
6	Act 2. Scene 5. Here we are in France	7:46			$1.49
7	Act 2. Scene 6. By this time England and France were joined together by a terrible bridge of ice	11:51			$1.99
8	Act 2. Scene 7. Have they all started?	6:29			$0.99
9	Act 2. Scene 8. Way there for the King of Bohemia	6:36			$0.99

CD 2 of 2
1	Act 3. Prelude	2:50			$0.99
2	Act 3. Scene 9. Well before the onset of winter	5:04			$0.99
3	Act 3. Scene 10. How much better for you if you'd hair like mine, long hair	6:02			$0.99
4	Act 3. Scene 11. I woke up from securing the gates of my dream	10:25			$1.99
5	Act 3. Scene 12. In the dead of night yesterday my father died	8:53			$1.49
6	Act 3. Scene 13. That magpie, The Anne who Steals	19:56			$3.49