Classical Music

Sibelius' personal choice for the recordings of symphonies No.s 1 and 2, made in London in 1930 with the Orchestra of the Royal Philharmonic Society, and which were followed by the recordings of No.s 3 and 5 in 1932. Symphony No 4 is conducted by Sir Thomas Beecham (with the London Philharmonic Orchestra in 1937), while Symphony No 7 is conducted by Serge Koussevitzky (a live recording with the BBC Symphony in London 1933). After Kajanus died in 1933, Sibelius said: "Of the men who play my music today, and whose performances I have heard, I prefer Beecham and Koussevitzky. Of Koussevitzky I have heard only the Seventh Symphony records published by the Sibelius Society, but with those I am entirely delighted. Beecham's performances have come to me by wireless [radio], and they are superb. He is a remarkable man. It gives me the deepest pleasure and satisfaction to see how great an interest he takes in my music and to know that it is he who is playing so much of music to the British public." Both Beecham and Koussevitzky were powerful advocates of the composer's music - Beecham in the UK and on his international tours, Koussevitzky in the US as chief conductor of the Boston Symphony Orchestra, a post he held for 25 years. Symphony No 6 is conducted by Georg Schneevoigt - a Finn and a close friend of Sibelius, who also leads the performance of the tone poem Luonnotar, which features the soprano Helmi Liukkonen; drawing like the majority of Sibelius' tone poems on the Finnish national epic, the Kalevala, it is a stunning piece that describes the creation of the world. In addition to these works, this box offers much more of the 'essential Sibelius': the Violin Concerto, to which Jascha Heifetz (conducted by Beecham) brings his characteristic fusion of fire and ice; eight more of the tone poems, including Finlandia, which famously gave expression to Finland's defiance of Russian domination at the time of it's composition (1899); movements from the Karelia Suite; Valse Triste and extracts from his music for Maeterlinck's play Pell�as et M�lisande. Complementing these are a number of lesser-known works, such as the incidental music to Hjalmar Procop�'s play Belshazzar's Feast, the string quartet "Voces intimae" and several small-scale pieces for piano, violin, cello and voice. Other performers featured in the box include: the Budapest String Quartet, the soprano Auliki Rautavaara, the violinist Emil Telm�nyi, the pianists Eileen Joyce and Gerald Moore and the Orchestra of the Royal Philharmonic Society, the London Symphony Orchestra, London Philharmonic Orchestra, BBC Symphony Orchestra, Helsinki Philharmonic Orchestra, Finnish Radio Orchestra and Stockholm Opera House Orchestra. The legendary producer Walter Legge was a driving force behind many of the most celebrated recordings in this box, and he was personally in charge of the recording sessions with Sir Thomas Beecham. His exacting standards have been reflected in the new or recent digital remasterings - from best sources than ever at Abbey Road Studio - of all these recordings.

Classical Music

J�rvi/Gothenburg Symphony Orch. - "Virtuoso: Sibelius: Symphonies 1 & 6" Decca presents six new titles in the VIRTUOSO series. With stellar recordings, famous artists, strong visuals, innovative booklet notes and best-selling composers, all offered at an excellent price, the Virtuoso series makes serious classical music approachable without compromise. This album contains Sibelius' Symphonies Nos. 1 & 6, performed by the Gothenburg Symphony Orchestra conducted by Neeme J�rvi.

KULLERVO

Classical Music

This second installment of Davis’s Sibelius cycle is purest gold. These performances command attention and will satisfy listeners for many years to come.

This second instalment of Davis’s new Sibelius cycle is purest gold. Hardly a phrase in these performances passes without new light being shed on it, and yet there is a strong feeling of spontaneity throughout. Davis’s readings are far from conventional; he often focuses on the darker sides of these symphonies, bringing out rarely heard depths in the Second and adding a fascinating new dimension to the Sixth. In both, he projects a strong sense of narrative and in the Second Symphony guides the argument toward the finale with overwhelming results – the appearance of the big tune gains immeasurably from a determined lack of sensationalism. Still more revealing is the finale of the Sixth: along with the expected ‘pastoral’ reflection he finds more than a hint of menace.

Davis is admirably served by the LSO. The strings respond to the detail of his interpretation with superb flexibility, and wind and brass groups are richly voiced. There is a wealth of magically observed orchestral detail, with the start of the slow movement of the Second Symphony – a polar-bear growl from the timpani and singing pizzicato – being especially memorable. These performances command attention and will satisfy listeners for many years to come.

Performance: 5 (out of 5), Sound: 5 (out of 5)

-- Jan Smaczny, BBC Music Magazine

LALO, SIBELIUS, RAVEL PERLMAN

Classical Music

SIBELIUS: VIOLIN CONCERTO SAI

This DVD celebrates the musical quest of one of the great symphonists of the 20th century as seen through his music, letters, and words of his wife Aino, who was with him for more than 64 years.

This volume concludes the complete Sibelius symphonies performed by the Gothenburg Symphony Orchestra under Santtu-Matias Rouvali. This series has already won numerous awards around the world and reaches it's climax here with three of Sibelius' greatest symphonies: Andrew Mellor writes in his introductory text that "we hear music carried by forms of gravitational energy reminiscent of those that govern the course of a river". Rouvali has also chosen to record eight extracts from Sibelius' incidental music for Shakespeare's The Tempest. First performed in March 1926, it is one of Sibelius's final orchestral works and is certainly his most fascinating composition for the theatre.

SIBELIUS: ORCHESTRAL WORKS

Sibelius: Symphonies Nos. 2 & 6

SCH?NBERG, SIBELIUS, FAURÈ: PE

SIBELIUS: LEMMINK?INEN OP 22,

SIBELIUS: SYMPHONIES NO 1 & 5,

"Julian Rachlin has a rapturously wide tonal armoury. From the very opening of the Concerto he demonstrates an imaginative reach; his sound being slender yet nectar-sweet. What is more, Maazel and the Pittsburghers catch the same kindling spirit. There is an alacrity and engagement about their playing that is not always present in the symphonies. Rachlin deserves consideration alongside Spivakovsky (Everest), Oistrakh (BMG-Melodiya) and Mullova (Philips). This is no also-ran and neither is the gentle second serenade."

-- Rob Barnett, MusicWeb International

*** This title is a reissue of a Japanese release with liner notes in Japanese. ***

JEAN SIBELIUS Folke Grasbeck, piano (5 CDs for the price of 3) JEAN SIBELIUS - THE SIBELIUS EDITION, VOLUME 10 - PIANO MUSIC 2

Includes work(s) by Jean Sibelius.

A fresh new recording of Jean Sibelius’ early breakthrough work by the Finnish Radio Symphony Orchestra under its conductor Hannu Lintu. This recording with two male choirs, the Estonian National Male Choir and the Polytech Choir, brings up the full drama of this gigantic 70-minute work which during Sibelius’ lifetime was often referred to as a “symphony”.

The work tells the story of Kullervo, a tragic hero drawn from the Finnish national epic, the Kalevala. While a student in Vienna, Sibelius started planning to write a large work that would crystallize the rising Finnish national feeling in music. It was in the cosmopolitan surroundings of Vienna where Sibelius finally discovered the Finnish sound for his orchestral works to follow. Until that moment the art music of his country, even works based on folklore characters such as found in the Kalevala poetry, had been largely influenced and dominated by German Romanticism. For his work Sibelius drew inspiration from traditional Finnish folk music and by studying the Kalevala epic on his own. From the 50 songs of the Kalevala, Sibelius chose passages from the most tragic sections of the work telling the story of Kullervo, an ill-fated young man. With the premiere of this work in Helsinki in 1892, Sibelius became a national hero – and also won the favour of his future father-in-law. Although the work was not performed never again in Sibelius’ lifetime after the following year, the work was a milestone for Sibelius himself in his development as a composer and a symphonist. It was the composer’s first serious attempt in composing a large-scale orchestral work. Kullervo is work by a young composer filled with inspiration, ideas, and drama.

Conductor Hannu Lintu recently won the Gramophone Award and ICMA Award for his recording of the Bartók Violin Concertos together with Christian Tetzlaff and the Finnish Radio Symphony Orchestra.

Sibelius: Piano Works Vol. 1

Includes work(s) by Jean Sibelius. Soloist: Folke Gräsbeck.

Finnish composer Jean Sibelius occupies an odd position straddling the fence between the 19th and 20th centuries. Despite his innovates, almost Ravellian gift for orchestration (listen to "The Dryad") his music remains, like that of his German contemporary Richard Strauss, firmly grounded in the Romantic tradition. What sets Sibelius apart, however, is the indefatigable folksiness of his music reminiscent of his Norwegian forerunner, Edvard Grieg, and largely derived from the Kalevala, the Finnish traditional Saga.

It's precisely this undefinable "Finnishness" that makes this collection of Sibelius tone poems unique: here is a Finnish orchestra in its own element. With the same unfair advantage one might concede the New York Phil in music of Gershwin, The Lahti Symphony orchestra under countryman Osmo Vänskä imbues this collection with style and culture. Sibelius's cool orchestral sonorities are met with a concise but moody warmth ideally suited to the semi-programmatic spirit of En Saga or Pohjola's Daughter. A fine exploration of this enduringly listenable composer.

David Simmons, WQXR

"Osmo Vänskä and his players excel at presenting Sibelius' gentler (and sometimes darker) side. This allows them to turn in wonderfully poetic and atmospheric performances of The Dryad and its accompanying Dance-Intermezzo, along with a truly evocative The Bard and a magnificently impressionistic account of The Oceanides (finely detailed with impressively sculpted bass lines). Vänskä's sensitivity to the subtle nuances of Sibelius' orchestration also ensures that the first half of Night Ride and Sunrise is aesthetically, rather than exasperatingly, monotonous, while the dawn sequence sounds aptly fresh and serene...I can't think of another Sibelius tone poem collection that offers a better planned or more interesting selection of pieces...unfailingly beautiful and idiomatic... -- David Hurwitz, ClassicsToday