Salonen has his way with Sibelius

Conductor Esa-Pekka Salonen and the Los Angeles Philharmonic concluded their four-program survey of Sibelius’ symphonic output in a blaze of melancholic glory Thursday at Walt Disney Concert Hall. The program included the sixth and fifth symphonies, played in that order, and opened with “The Death of Melisande,” a replacement for a set of seven Sibelius songs that tenor Ben Heppner had been scheduled to sing until he recently fell ill.

The Fifth Symphony was an important work in the composer’s life. After the failure of his Fourth -- his most personal venture in the form -- in 1911, Sibelius fell into a deep depression. He pulled out of it only because of a tour in 1914 to the United States, where he was lionized far beyond his expectations.

He returned to Finland brimming with musical ideas and within a year premiered his Fifth Symphony in Beethoven’s heroic key of E flat. Over the dark war years and beyond, he revised the work twice, in 1916 and 1919. From the beginning, though, he had concurrently worked on his Sixth Symphony, which he premiered in 1923.

Often referred to as the overlooked Cinderella of the seven, the Sixth is a hard nut to crack. It continually thwarts expectations, beginning in one direction and abruptly changing course or stopping dead in its tracks.

Salonen opened the piece by painting a beautiful scene of pale, warm colors breaking through morning gloom. He evoked a tranquil setting that soon came alive with burbling rhythms and the actions of little creatures. But the movement ended suddenly and enigmatically. The other movements, which shared the same musical material, had their own ambiguities, and the work ended with a sense of something reached for but missed.

The Fifth Symphony is far more direct. But where other conductors have found exaltation, Salonen heard austerity, sobriety, even something close to tragedy. He purged sentimental inflections from the first movement’s architectural grandeur and the engaging set of folk-like variations in the middle movement. He made even the last movement’s big brass hymn tune sound more full of melancholy and stoicism than any hard-won assertive triumph.

The audience responded with approving fervor, but it was an unusual take on the work.

In this piece and throughout the concert, the spot-on precision, transparency and power of the Philharmonic in response to Salonen’s exacting demands were breathtaking. And far from being a throwaway opening piece to accommodate latecomers, “The Death of Melisande” was sensitively conceived and played with a luxury of expressive string and wind tone that reminded us once again of the orchestra’s and the hall’s excellence.

chris.pasles@latimes.com