� The idea of malinconia in the 19th c. covered a myriad of romantic notions, so to simply translate it as "melancholy" does the term injustice. � It subsumes many other emotional states as well - dejection, gloom, unknown sadness, desperation, depression and even frustration. Each language has evolved it's own terms, and interpretations differ from region to region. � Malinconia in sunny Italy or Spain is quite different from melancholy in Norway and in Finland, with their long, harsh winters. � The Nordic variant is expressed here in various musical examples.

Classical Music

This new release from BR-Klassik brings together the most well-known works of Finnish composer, Jean Sibelius. Included in this disc are Sibelius’ Symphony No. 2 D Major op. 43, and Finlandia op. 26- Karelia Suite op. 11. The recordings on this album were made during autumn of 2015 in Munich, by The Symphonieorchester des Bayerischen Rundfunks. Conducting the orchestra is Mariss Jansons, who is well-known for his interpretation of Nordic music.

Director: Humphrey Burton

Recorded live at the Wiener Musikvereinssaal, 1986, 1987, 1988 and 1990.

Picture format: NTSC 4:3
Sound format: PCM Stereo 2.0 / DTS 5.1
Region code: 0 (worldwide)
Booklet notes: English, German, French
Running time: 166 mins
No. of DVDs: 2 (DVD 9 + DVD 5)

In the mid 1980s, Unitel began recording a complete cycle of Sibelius symphonies with Leonard Bernstein and the Vienna Philharmonic. Bernstein´s death in 1990 unfortuantely cut short this project after the release of Symphonies Nos. 1, 2, 5 and 7. Recorded live at Vienna´s Musikverein, these ecstatic performances were the object of stellar reviews. On this double-disc set, Bernstein´s unique and by now legendary interpretations of Sibelius are released for the first time on DVD.

Sibelius, J.: Violin Concerto, Op. 47 / Diciedue, R.: Violin

Classical Music

Recorded in: Snape Maltings Concert Hall, Suffolk 25-27 January 1989 Producer(s) Tim Oldham Sound Engineer(s) Anthony Howell

I cannot remember having enjoyed this music more. Petri Sakari’s performance is totally unaffected, plain and full of enthusiasm; the players sound as if they are enjoying this score and communicate their pleasure.

– Gramophone, reviewing original release

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This reissue features performances of incidental music by Jean Sibelius, recorded in 1992 by Petri Sakari and the Iceland Symphony Orchestra. Sakari’s recordings with this orchestra during the 1990s made a significant contribution to the discography of Scandinavian music, notably of works by Grieg, Sibelius, and Madetoja.

Sibelius composed the score for King Christian II, a play by his friend Adolf Paul, in 1898 and it anticipates the richly romantic sound of the First Symphony. Here the usual suite is expanded by the inclusion of two movements from the incidental music not usually heard: the Menuetto and "The Fool’s Song."

Maurice Maeterlinck’s much-performed yet complex psychological drama Pelléas et Mélisande inspired works by Debussy, Fauré, Schoenberg, and Sibelius, whose incidental music consists mainly of interludes in a uniquely dark, subdued, and typically Nordic vein.

Altogether sweeter is the delicate and poetic score for Swanwhite, August Strindberg's "idealistic play of pure beauty." Sibelius condensed the original music into a charming concert suite of seven movements, five of which are recorded here.

Classical Music

SIBELIUS: Symphony No. 2 / 'The Tempest', Suite No. 1

SIBELIUS: Symphonies Nos. 1 and 3

Sibelius: Piano Music

SIBELIUS: Kullervo, Op. 7

Classical Music

For Simon Rattle, Jean Sibelius is "one of the most staggeringly original composers that there is". And indeed, this music has a unique musical language whose many beauties are particularly succinctly conveyed in Sibelius's seven symphonies. There is sonorous warmth as much as there is austere Nordic folklore. Moreover, there is a conceptual boldness that takes the listener on exciting musical journeys of discovery. In 2015, to celebrate the 150th anniversary of Sibelius's birth, Simon Rattle and the Berliner Philharmoniker presented the cycle live, which was met with unanimous delight by audiences and critics alike. "The Philharmoniker show that with them and Simon Rattle, Sibelius is in excellent hands," wrote the Berliner Zeitung, "because the orchestra has that astringency and sheer power which is so important for this kind of music." Simon Rattle was familiar with the music of Jean Sibelius from childhood. When, as a ten-year-old, he heard the Fifth Symphony live for the first time, it struck him - to use his own words - "like a thunderbolt". The Berliner Philharmoniker can also look back on a long Sibelius tradition and the orchestra was conducted by the composer himself in 1902. However, the first complete performance of the seven symphonies was not realized until 2010 under the direction of Sir Simon Rattle, with the Third Symphony being performed by the Philharmoniker for the first time. For many music lovers in Berlin, this new encounter with Sibelius was an exhilarating experience, and so it was only natural to repeat the performance of the cycle in Sibelius's anniversary year.