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This entry in BIS's projected 13-volume Sibelius Edition offers all of the popular tone poems as well as a few that are not so familiar, save for die-hard Sibelius collectors. Among these latter are Spring Song, The Dryad, The Bard, The Wood Nymph, and Cassazione (this last not really a tone poem, but never mind). Many of these works were previously released by BIS in recordings with Neeme Järvi and the Gothenburg Symphony, but the present collection largely offers newer recordings by Osmo Vänskä and the Lahti Symphony. Järvi's contribution to this set concerns Cassazione and Scènes historiques Nos. 1 & 2.

Given BIS's intention to record "every note he ever wrote", the collection also includes many of the composer's early attempts. Thus, we get two versions each of En Saga (1892 and 1902), The Oceanides, Finlandia, Cassazione, In memoriam, Dance-Intermezzo, Lemminkäinen and the Maidens of the Island, Lemminkäinen in Tuonela (one of which is a reconstruction), and three versions of Lemminkäinen's Return. Listening to these it's easy to conclude that Sibelius clearly knew best, as his final versions are uniformly superior to his early ones, which are less structurally cohesive despite the occasional novel idea.

The performances are superb, the one exception being Vänskä's Lemminkäinen Suite (final version). Here BIS would have done better to include Järvi's better played and better recorded version. It's an unfortunate choice that keeps this set from receiving the highest rating. Nonetheless, this is a wonderful collection that will provide many hours of pleasure, both to neophytes and to seasoned Sibelius lovers. The offer of 5-CDs for the price of 3 helps to make it well-nigh irresistible.

– Victor Carr Jr, ClassicsToday.com

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

Listening to the youthful tone and secure technique exhibited on this recital, it seems hard to credit that Hagegard is now in his mid-fifties. The voice seems hardly altered from the firm, attractive instrument I first heard at the Wigmore Hall in the 1970s, except that it has grown in size and strength at the top, a feature advantageous here in the searing climaxes of Brahms's 'Aufdem Kirchhofe' and 'Verrat' (Nos. 4 and 5 of Fünf Lieder), the former rivalling a noted reading by Hotter, the latter a famous interpretation by Kipnis. Hagegârd's biting diction and sense of the inner drama in both songs is typical of his understanding of the genre. At the same time, he still possesses in abundance the mellow tone and firm line to do justice to such lyrical pearls as 'Wie Melodien zieht' and 'Immer leiser', Nos. 1 and 2 from Op. 105.

In Sibelius he is predictably at home, peering into the soul of these songs of longing. The most notable part of his interpretations of Stenhammar is the remarkable mezza voce he sustains throughout the two lovely songs from Op. 20, fine pieces, ideally interpreted.

Only in Brahms's Ernste Gesange, where Kipnis and Hotter are again the benchmarks, must there be reservations, simply because these grave pieces demand a weight of tone Hagegard's almost heroic baritone doesn't possess. At least that's true of his accounts of the first two, deeply depressing pieces. In the consolation of the second half of the third song and the beam of New Testament light of the finale, the flexibility and range of the baritone's performance is splendidly apt. Warren Jones is an adaptable and sensitive player. The slightly too reverberant recording shouldn't deter anyone from acquiring this thoughtful and rewarding programme.

-- Gramophone [8/1999]

a sympathetic and sensitive guide to this repertoire... well recorded. She produces a wide range of keyboard colour and a good dynamic range. On the whole the set makes a clear first choice in this repertoire (Penguin Guide 3 stars) "She is not one of the bash and glitter school. Her approach reaches the heart of the music by stealth... soft playing which is yet deep in tone" (Musical Opinion)

These are glamorous, big-city readings, far removed from the granite-faced objectivity proffered by most recorded Sibelians. But it’s all tremendously exciting – and if Bernstein nears emotional saturation more than once, particularly in Symphonies Nos. 1 [and] 2..., the coursing adrenalin in these accounts is irresistible. The New Yorkers are on top form throughout... Despite remastering, some of the fizz and glare that goaded pre-digital CBS LP pressings still survives.

-- Michael Jameson, BBC Music Magazine
reviewing these performances previously reissued as part of Sony 87329

Includes work(s) by various composers. Ensemble: I Salonisti.

SIBELIUS: SYMPHONIES NO 2 & 6

The Finnish maestro John Storgårds, Principal Guest Conductor of the BBC Philharmonic, presents his first recording on Chandos, a complete symphonic cycle of his nation’s greatest musical export, Jean Sibelius.

The triumphant premieres of Symphonies Nos 1 and 2, with their big tunes and great romantic sweep, established the international reputation of Sibelius as a symphonist, some audiences even considering him Beethoven’s natural successor. The symphonies that followed chart Sibelius’s development as one of the most individual composers of the early twentieth century. Each symphony has its unique approach, whether it be the classicism of the Third, the brooding modernism of the Fourth, or the icy stillness of the Sixth, so evocative of the Finnish landscape. The Symphony No. 7 in C major represents Sibelius’s greatest achievement in the symphonic form. In it he compresses the grand emotional sweep of a symphony into one startlingly original movement lasting little over twenty minutes.

Illness prevented Sibelius from completing any major works in the last thirty years of his life. Manuscripts show, however, that he never stopped composing. Recorded here are three orchestral fragments prepared by Timo Virtanen from late sketches thought to be for Sibelius’s legendary ‘lost’ 8th Symphony, destroyed by the composer in 1945. They offer a fascinating glimpse into the composer’s creative imagination during a time when impaired health inhibited Sibelius from realising his rich musical visions.

SIBELIUS Violin Concerto1. Karelia Suite. The Swan of Tuonela. Valse lyrique, op. 96a. Valse triste, op. 44/1. Andante festivo, JS 34b. Finlandia • Andrew Davis, cond; 1Jennifer Pike (vn); Bergen PO • CHANDOS 5134 (SACD: 78:24)

Here it is; the recording of Sibelius’s Violin Concerto I’ve always wanted. Ironically, though, it’s not either of the two I’ve been wishing and waiting for, which would be ones by James Ehnes and Julia Fischer. No, this one comes out of left field as a complete surprise from a little-recorded violinist, Jennifer Pike, whose acquaintance I’ve made only once before when she joined the Doric String Quartet for a performance of Chausson’s Concert for Piano, Violin, and String Quartet on a Chandos CD I reviewed in 36:6. In fact, it was Pike’s contribution to that performance that redeemed the Doric Quartet for me, after it had batted out on three previous occasions. I’ve not heard Pike’s handful of other recordings, which include sonatas by Brahms, Schumann, Franck, Debussy, and Ravel, and a performance of Rózsa’s Violin Concerto.

“Perfect” is an absolute; so too, theoretically, is the speed of light, yet both real science and science fiction postulate conditions under which the speed of light can be exceeded. I would therefore propose to you that Jennifer Pike’s Sibelius Concerto is beyond perfect; it exists in the realm of the ideal.

In prior reviews, I’ve let it be known that the Sibelius is my all-time favorite violin concerto, and that over the years I’ve managed to acquire somewhere between 30 and 40 recordings of the piece—50 or 60 if I count the ones I still have on LP. I’ve also wished it were possible to combine the best features of various performances in order to come up with “The One.” I believe Jennifer Pike has ended that quest, for this is, without a doubt, the best Sibelius Violin Concerto I’ve ever heard.

From the shimmering tremolo in the strings that begin the work, to Pike’s whispered “Behold, I tell you a mystery” entrance, every moment, every breath, is filled with vibrating expectation and pulsating suspense. One moment, her tone seems to come from the dark recesses of Finland’s deep forests, and the next, it glints with the blue-white light of Sibelius’s icy landscapes.

Every tempo is perfectly judged, and Pike sails through the work’s most technically strenuous passages with not so much as a single scrape of her bow or a coarsening of her tone. Her harmonics alone—both natural and artificial—are breathtaking; every single one of them rings the way harmonics should when they’re hit just right. I could go on for paragraphs describing Pike’s miraculous performance, but I’ll content myself with describing one last aspect of her reading before moving on.

Few movements in all of music convey the rush of sexual ecstasy as explicitly as does the Adagio of this concerto. I’ve often thought it should come with an “X” rating. The way Sibelius builds towards the climax, driving towards it, backing away from it, then approaching it again, with the solo violin throbbing and pulsing over the heartbeat in the orchestra pounding ever faster, louder, and harder. When done right, it should set your own heart to racing and your palms to sweating. But much is critical to getting this movement just right, starting with the tempo. Too slow and the heightening sense of tension is lost; too fast, and the full impact of the climax is diminished. Heifetz with Beecham and the London Philharmonic, at 7:47, for example, sounds impatient with the foreplay and wants to be done with the deed with a minimum of moaning and shouting. Perlman with Previn and the Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra, on the other hand, at 8:51, is too slow, running the risk of his partner falling asleep mid-coitus. Jennifer Pike splits the difference and gets it just right at 8: 16.

There are other telling details to consider too. In bar 21, having reached the first plateau in the ascent to rapture, the solo violin has a kind of shiver or shudder in the form of seven 32nd notes and two 16ths, which is then echoed, softer, in the next measure. Many violinists seem to take some liberties with this particular figure, interpreting it in a variety of ways, and teasing it to achieve different effects. Isaac Stern, for example, in his recording with Ormandy and the Philadelphia Orchestra gives it a Jewish twist, making it sound like an old Chassid exhaling a sigh. It’s quite affecting, but I’m not sure it’s what Sibelius had in mind. It needs to sound like the quivering or shaking that attends the excited anticipation of what’s to come.

The crucial aspect of this figure is in its return immediately following the big orchestral climax 13 bars before the end. It’s a stroke of Sibelian genius, because now, the exact same shiver or shudder, which earlier expressed excited anticipation, now reflects its opposite, as all previous tension is released and drains away in a perfect sigh of exhaustion.

Among my many recordings of the piece, the closest any violinist has come to capturing the essence of that feeling—before Jennifer Pike, that is—is Pinchas Zukerman with Daniel Barenboim and the London Philharmonic on a Deutsche Grammophon LP I have. I believe that performance is available on a not widely circulated and perhaps no longer available CD on the Eloquence label. In any case, you need look no further because Pike nails it.

None of this would be possible, of course, without the participation and contributions of Andrew Davis, the Bergen Philharmonic, sound engineer Ralph Couzens, and the rest of the production team responsible for this stunning SACD recording. The Bergen’s brass players snarl their stentorian blasts with the best of them, and while I won’t go so far as to say this performance will wake the dead, I can pretty much promise it will rouse thy neighbors.

The remainder of the program, equally magnificently performed and recorded, is a kind of hit parade of Sibelius’s most popular orchestral works—Finlandia, Valse Triste, The Swan of Tuonela, the Andante festivo, and the Karelia Suite—and in one instance—the Valse lyrique—a piece not so well known, which began as the concluding number in a suite for solo piano. Sibelius subsequently pulled it from the suite and scored it as a stand-alone piece for orchestra.

With the release of this recording, the now 24-year-old, prize-winning Jennifer Pike can no longer be considered an up and coming artist, for as far as I’m concerned, she has done up and come. She has arrived and can be numbered among today’s top violin virtuosos. This one is going on my 2014 Want List for sure.

FANFARE: Jerry Dubins

A performance of commanding stature that reveals Kullervo as the great work it is.

Those who recall Sir Colin Davis's performance with the LSO of Kullervo at London's Barbican Centre in 1992 (subsequently televised) will not have forgotten its epic sweep and magisterial control. We have had to wait five years for his reading to reach the catalogue during which time there have been numerous rivals. All the alternatives since the original issue of Paavo Berglund's Helsinki account have accommodated Kullervo on one CD. Sir Colin's (at nearly 81 minutes) runs to two and brings us not only Sibelius's first essay in the form but also his last. The set also includes two other works conceived in the 1890s, En Saga, from 1893, revised for Busoni's celebrated New Music concerts in 1901, and Rakastava composed originally for a cappella voices in 1894 and reworked for strings and timpani in 1911. Although Davis recorded En Saga with the Boston orchestra (Philips, 3/82 — nla), I don't recall his giving us an earlier account of Rakastava, one of Sibelius's most affecting pieces. It is affectingly played, too, though I do feel that Sir Colin makes rather heavy weather of the last movement where the farewells seem to be overcharged and too protracted. I liked the earlier version of En Saga and like this every bit as much. In his hands the Seventh Symphony, which he has always done as to the manner born, is by turns powerful, epic and serene, its climaxes expertly placed.

But to turn to Kullervo: what works in the concert-hall may not make the same impression when heard in the intimacy of the home. First, let me say that the LSO play with refinement and spirit, and the London Symphony Chorus are responsive even if, in the opening of the last move ment, they do not quite surpass the deeper, darker basses of the Finnish and Estonian choirs on rival issues. They are excellent in the middle movement. The first movement is slower than I had remembered it — certainly slower than the 1958 performance by Sibelius's son-in-law, Jussi Jalas, which brought this piece alive again after its long slumber. Yet after a few bars it struck me as being exactly right. It is spacious and broad (three minutes longer than most rivals) which underlines the Brucknerian feeling to the piece. Bruckner's Third Symphony made a great impression on Sibelius during his year in Vienna when the first ideas of Kullervo were forming in his mind. The slow movement, "Kullervo's Youth", is splendidly characterized, as is the central "Kullervo and his Sister" movement. Karl-Magnus Fredriksson may not be quite as dark-toned as Hynninen, or the admirable Hillevi Martinpelto quite as authoritative as Isokowski or Groop, but they both acquit themselves well. The remaining two movements seem to me to be paced with unerring judgement. Strangely enough, looking at the figures Davis takes about ten minutes longer than such an echt Sibelian as Paavo Berglund and yet at no point does it feel it.

Every time I hear it I am puzzled that Sibelius should have entertained such strong doubts about Kullervo as to discourage performances during his lifetime. There are many fine versions listed above and I would not want to praise this excellently recorded newcomer at their expense. All that I need say, I think, is that Sir Colin's is a performance of commanding stature that reveals Kullervo as the great work it is. At the end I wanted to applaud.

-- Gramophone [12/1997]

This recording received a 1998 "Critic's Choice" award from Gramophone magazine.

This disc received the 1997 Gramophone award for "Best Orchestral Recording."

SIBELIUS: Symphonies Nos. 1 and 4

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