I enjoy my Sibelius Violin Concerto recording on Melodya/Eurodisc with Gidon Kremer as the fiddler and the London Symphony directed by Gennadij Roshdestwenskij Then there's Finlandia and other Sibby bon-bons with Sir Colin Davis and the Boston Symphony on a Philips Sequenza LP. I also listen to my Sibelius Second Symphony with Sir John Barbirolli and the Royal Philharmonic on Chesky vinyl.
Finally, I'm not sure if my memory is reliable but I believe I saw Von Karajan and the Berlin Phil do a Sibelius symphony live.
|
I’m looking forward to hearing the Vanska Sibelius. I haven’t heard Colin Davis/ Boston, but I enjoy his cycle with the LSO, 1995, RCA Red Seal.
Check out Ormandy with the Philadelphia, remastered 1995, Sony. Limited symphonies.
For very good SQ, there's Klaus Mäkelä, a young conductor with the Oslo Philharmonic.
|
Colin Davis and the Boston Symphony on two Philips two-fer CDs is an easy recommendation!
|
The Davis Boston series is very strong. I prefer it to the LSO cycle . I have the Ormandy, and the Philadelphia Orchestra was great in Sibelius.. I agree that the Makela cycle is very good, would like to hear what he does with Sibelius in another 15 years.
von Karajan on either EMI or DG is peerless in the Fourth
|
Helsinki Philharmonic Orchestra with Leif Segestram is wonderful and very well recorded (Pohjola's Daughter, Symphony #4, Finlandia).
|
FWIW, I think Sibelius sort of crossed over into being a neo classicist with his 3rd Symphony where he starts to develop his own distinct voice (which coincides with my interest in his music). I agree with your assessment of Van Karajan's 4th Sym. I like Bergman's cycle, especially with the COE. I think they flatter his post romantic style. And while I'm here, I'm in love with the Finlandia Hymn for male choir. The unofficial national anthem. Very moving! Image soldiers marching off to war with Russia singing this song!! :-)
|
Paavo Berglund and the Bournemouth Symphony on EMI is worth acquiring!
|
Would have to agree that I quite like Paavo Berglund.
I have a full Symphonic set by Maazel on DECCA that I am also quite fond of.
I do wish Szell had done a full cycle. His #2 with the Concertgebouw is an all time favorite.
|
LOL at myself - I guess I don't know the difference between a conductor and a director! Nice that no one thought to correct me. :-)
|
I just finished listening to the symphonies yesterday with Rattle and Berlin. The sound on Qobuz is excellent. I enjoyed how the details were illuminated by the incandescent soloists of that great orchestra. Rattle achieves beautiful balances and pacing which logically leads to the climaxes revealing the integrity of Sibelius' structures.
|
I haven’t gotten around to listening to Rattle yet. The reviews have been mixed, with the British Critics offering their predictable raves and elsewhere some dissent. The newer Sibelius that I have been comparing is Makela vs Rouvali.
Berglund did 3 sets. I have the first, from Bournemouth. They are very different, especially the chamber set.
Sibelius Third is one of my favorites. It sounds like he is trying to absorb Bruckner and discard the Tchaikovsky. The Forth is fascinating as he was fighting cancer and does have that looking-into-the-abyss feel to it, while the Fifth seems to breathe a soy of relief. The Sixth is the hardest nut to crack for me. It’s his Pastorale, where a trip into the woods of the North Woods and Lakes is filled with luminescent beauty, whereas in the Seventh and Tapiola the Norse Gods seem to be plotting to use those same forests for malevolent ends
|
Love your descriptions of the symphonies. My favorites are the 3d, 4th, 5th, and 6th. The 7th not so much. More abstract - a one off I think. #1 and # 2 are a great place to start with Sibelius but not to end up (That #2 never seams to end sometimes. I have the Makela set - have listened to it about 3 times and so far I'm not hearing anything unique or revelatory. Just OK. I don't have the Rouvali (yet). Most everything else though. No one ever mentions Jarvi, but his Sibelius on BIS ain't that bad. Try his third. FWIW I really don't care for overbroad performances, i.e. slow, even when done by a Finn. I have most of Vanska's recordings - I find them, generally, very reliable and BIS's recordings very good. I think I prefer the earlier BIS recordings. Re Berglund's COE performances, they remind me of what Harnoncourt did with Beethoven for those who tired of overbroad, over scored, stuff that had become a standard. Ditto for Schubert's 8 and 9 by Mackerras on Virgin.Guess I just like the COE. :-)
|
Yeah, the first two symphonies are great works, but for me they became over familiar as I played them to death and didn't move on with Sibelius for a couple of decades. The First is an outstanding First Symphony filled with great music. The Colin Davis BSO recording is superb with deep brooding strings. As I've said before the debts to Tchaikovsky are obvious and Sibelius realy finds his own voice in the 3rd. The Second was revolutionary for it's time, especially the First Movement which dispenses with an introduction and transition material between the themes. And in the last movement that you say goes on forever, we hear Sibelius absorbing the Bruckner influence, of hammering away repetitively and then changing key signatures at the climactic moment, producing that "sunrise" (others refer to it as orgasmic) sensation.
|
LOL. Re Bruckner's influence - Much as I like parts of #8, I usually only listen to #9 and, sometimes #7. Sometimes I think I'd like to hear Bruckner done by the COE. :-)
|
@mahler123
Although I’ve listened to classical music on our local station KUSC I’ve never really taken the time to become that knowledgeable in the genre- this is completely new to me!
After reading this thread I was intrigued so I decided to listen tonight. Is this the release you were referring to?
|
Actually, no. The above is a recording of an early Sibelius work, one that he withdrew after publishing. It’s kind of like The Beatles with Tony Sheridan album. Kullervo has its fans but I’m not among them. If you are new to Sibelius I recommend exploring the following.
Tone Poems (Basically works for Orchestra that aren’t Symphonies or Concertos): Finlandia, Tapiola,The Swan of Tuonela, En Saga
Symphonies 1-7. Number 5 might be the most immediately accessible
Violin Concerto
@designsfx if you have a streaming service you can easily explore many recordings of all of the above
The conductor in the recording you referenced is named Osmo Vanska. He irecords for the label BIS. BIS hired him to record every note the Composer ever wrote for Orchestra, back in the nineties, with a relatively small Orchestra from the city of Lahti. He subsequently became the Conductor of the Minnesota Orchestra, and BIS is re recording much of the Sibelius this time in SACD.
As you can tell from the other posts in the thread there are many other Conductors that have recorded Sibelius. Another excellent place to start would be Herbert von Karajan and the Berlin Philharmonic in the four tone poems that I listed above
if you need more help don’t be afraid to ask.
|
@mahler123
I was wondering what format you use the most for listening. I was able to find this on Qobuz (24/96 FLAC) and for the most part is sounded very good with proper dynamics. There was one thing that continually drew my attention away from the music though- a slight crackling type of distortion that was very noticeable when the vocalists performed solo (both male/female). It was very noticeable at around 19:00 minutes in the third “Kullervo and his sister” Just wondering if that been noticed while streaming or if it’s inherent in all formats. Thank you as well for the recommendations, I’ll definitely seek out the other works.
|
@designsfx
I haven't listened to that recording of Kullervo because I don't like the music, having tried a few prior recordings. You do realize that in Classical Music there tend to be multiple recordings by different performers of the same piece of music.
I am 100% digital, CDs, SACD, Blu Ray, streaming, etc. Some higher resolution but most at CD redbook resolution
|
@mahler123
You do realize that in Classical Music there tend to be multiple recordings by different performers of the same piece of music.
Ha! Believe me- I do. I grew up playing music and attended Musicians Institute while in my teens. I’ve always been fascinated by classical composers but never had the patience to follow through the various performances/recording. The various interpretations can be interesting but I have never followed it. Now that I’m trying out retirement I thought it might be interesting to pursue and learn more about.
On systems I’m all digital as well- just wondered if you had noticed the same in the recording. I’ll definitely be checking out other recordings via Qobuz now that I have that going.
|
|
I listened to the Rattle set yesterday, or 1-5. There is a lot of pleasure to be had here but in general Sir Simon tends to put pads on Sibelius sharp elbows. Voluptuous playing, lots of rubato. I prefer Bergland’s cold bracing Nordic shower to Rattle’s lushness, but this music can withstand many interpretive approaches.
|
