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. ***

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

Great news! Arkivmusic.com has gotten its "on demand" hands on the Japanese RCA Ormandy Edition, making these recordings available in North America at far saner prices. Some of these performances are outstanding, nowhere more so than here--one of the greatest Sibelius recordings ever made. Ormandy's Fourth Symphony is magnificent: gaunt, direct, and unflinching, with stunning string playing and the most intelligent approach on disc to the percussion conundrum in the finale (chimes at the "sonore" climax, glockenspiel everywhere else). Some listeners might prefer a swifter tempo in the scherzo, but this interpretation is all of a piece, taking in the work as if in one sweeping gesture, and Sibelians will understand just what that means.

The Seventh also is a perfectly paced, immaculately played performance, with none of the mannerisms in the pastoral interlude that disturb Ormandy's first recording for Sony. As for the tone poems, there is no finer performance of Oceanides available anywhere, and Pohjola's Daughter is just about as good. Ormandy could come across as a somewhat stiff and unsmiling interpreter, but not here, and particularly not in music that requires an absolutely logical, indeed mathematical approach to tempo relationships between sections. Both in terms of performance quality and programming (Sibelius at his very greatest throughout), it just doesn't get any better.

The Japanese edition apparently used original unaltered sources, meaning the tapes were not remastered in any way, and so vary widely in sound quality--from very good, as here, to virtually unlistenable (Mahler Second). So until someone goes back and redoes them from scratch--and we may have a very long wait--you will have to buy selectively. These recordings, from the late 1970s, stand among the best-sounding of the lot. A magnificent release that you won't want to miss!

--David Hurwitz, ClassicsToday.com

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

This CD, drawn from the Japanese Ormandy edition, makes a strong claim for the attention of all Sibelians.

Eugene Ormandy's Sony recording of the First Symphony (last available on Essential Classics coupled to Bernstein's equally outstanding Fifth Symphony) is unequalled for Romantic opulence, even extending to some retouching in the final chords (extra harp). This remake adds a couple of cymbal crashes in the first movement and diddles a few other textural details besides, but otherwise is a touch grimmer, with aptly gruff brass playing and less emphasis on the harp and strings, especially in the finale's Tchaikovsky-style big tune. It's still an outstanding performance by any measure, and well worth having, particularly if you can't get the earlier Sony recording.

This is Ormandy's only recording of the Karelia Overture, and it's marvelous--fresh and vibrant with (as usual) terrific string playing. The Suite is better than Ormandy's previous Sony recording, more atmospherically recorded and played with just a touch more gusto. The concluding Alla marcia builds to a very satisfying climax. Ormandy's moderate tempo seems just right here, and as just suggested, the engineering is better than many other RCA Philadelphia recordings. In sum, this "on demand" production from Arkivmusic.com, drawn from the Japanese Ormandy edition, makes a strong claim for the attention of all Sibelians.

-- David Hurwitz, ClassicsToday.com

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

Between 1987 and 1989, Jukka-Pekka Saraste and the Finnish Radio Symphony Orchestra made an acclaimed complete recording for RCA Victor of the symphonies and other major works by their compatriot Sibelius. Sony Classical is now issuing them together for the first time in a budget-priced 8-album box set. Gramophone wrote that “these are impressive, well characterized performances … Saraste is very much the servant of the composer … Momentum and continuity and the placing of detail in the right perspective in relation to the overall architecture are paramount considerations in Sibelius, and Saraste maintains an impressive flow.”

Here we present the long awaited release of Paavo Järvi’s first recording of Sibelius’ complete symphonies. Since his professional conducting debut in 1985 when he conducted Sibelius’ First Symphony, Järvi has conducted seven symphonies by Sibelius throughout his long and worldwide conducting career. He has recorded albums of Sibelius including an album of collection of Cantatas which won a Grammy Award. During Järvi’s tenure as the music director of Orchestre de Paris (2010-2016), he opened his tenure with Kullervo, and subsequently performed several works of Sibelius including thee seven symphonies and for this outstanding work in France, he received Sibelius medal in 2015. This album was recorded live at Salle Pleyel and Philharmonie de Paris, and the recordings were edited from multiple performances and takes with Järvi’s supervision. This will be the first-ever recoding of Sibelius’ complete symphonies by a French orchestra, and will be the first recording by the Orchestre de Paris for RCA Red Seal.



REVIEW:

From the clarinet solo that opens No 1 to the unforgettable C major scale launching No 7, intensity and idiomatic intelligence abound. No 7 is magnificent, and aptly follows No 6 (they’re related) in this achronological sequence. The mutation of No 5’s first movement into a scherzo is effortless.

– Sunday Times (UK)

SIBELIUS: Piano Music, Vol. 3

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