@audio-B-Dog
I often play Sibelius, although he doesn’t have the complexity of Beethoven, but few composers do
Most days, I'd take Sibelius. To me, many Beethoven's symphonies tend to be bombastic stop-start affairs whereas Sibelius mostly spins multiple continuous strands.
I am particularly struck by the new Decca set from the then unknown Klaus Mikela and the Oslo Philharmonic Orchestra. Klaus seems to have spontaneously wandered down from the wilds of Finland. During Covid, he did nothing but rehearse the Sibelius symphonies with the Oslo orchestra. To me, the most significant thing is that he recorded the first symphony last. This symphony has often been regarded as derivative (of Tchaikovsky) but Klaus' opening is pure Sibelius magic
Most Finnish greats have recorded cycles of Sibelius symphonies at least once...Who’d have predicted that this latest, from Klaus Mäkelä at the helm of the Oslo Philharmonic would be the most electrifying and often revelatory of them all?
Sibelius tried to create internally cohesive pieces of music. He was horrified when Mahler said his own symphonies encompassed his whole life experience. But then Sibelius had the Finnish addiction to the bottle, to his wife's dismay
