Sibelius: The Complete Symphonies 2
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Editorial Reviews
Amazon.com essential recording
It was clever of Philips to couple Sibelius's least popular symphonies with the extremely popular Violin Concerto and tone poems. Don't let the words "least popular" scare you off, however. If you like Sibelius, you'll love the Third and Sixth Symphonies. The latter, in particular, is one of the most purely beautiful pieces of music in the history of sound; its only flaw is a quiet ending that makes conductors unwilling to play it at live concerts. Sir Colin Davis and the Boston Symphony perform all of this music with idiomatic flair and unflagging enthusiasm. These versions are far superior to Davis's recent remakes on RCA, and a lot cheaper too. So go ahead, indulge. --David Hurwitz
Customer Reviews
Outstanding performances
In the 1970s Colin Davis and the Boston Symphony Orchestra recorded a complete cycle of Sibelius symphonies, as well as the violin concerto and a few of the tone poems. A number of the live performances before the recording sessions were broadcast on PBS. The Davis cycle was generally regarded as one of the best available at that time, although the recorded sound was considered below Philips' usual high standard.
As it happens, the performances collected in Vol. 2 are among the stronger in the series. The two weakest performances--the Second and the Fourth--are in Vol. 1. If you're just getting to know Symphonies 3, 6, and 7, these are thoughtful, well-shaped, well-played performances with a strong feeling for the Sibelius sound world. Tempo relationships are reasonable. Davis doesn't rush the (apparently) faster music after the slow opening of the Sixth Symphony, a key point for those of us who love this symphony. A big plus is the violin concerto with Salvatore Accardo. There may be fierier or more virtuosic performances, but Davis makes the orchestra an equal partner. If you like the violin concerto treated as an additional Sibelius symphony, and I do, you'll like this interpretation.
Considering Vols. 1 and 2 of the Davis cycle together, I'd rate them superior to the Maazel/Vienna, but below the Berglund cycle, simply because none of Berglund's performances is as misconceived as the Davis Fourth. If you're looking for the specific works in Vol. 2, I wouldn't hesitate to get the Davis.
An Introduction to Sibelius
The music of Jean Sibelius (1865 --1957) has enjoyed a varied reputation over the years, but it today is held in deservedly high regard. His seven symphonies, in their varied forms, are classics of the Twentieth Century.
I have lived for several years with Sir Colin Davis' recordings of Sibelius with the Boston Symphony Orchestra. Davis is an acknowledged master of this music. The recordings date from 1975 -- 1979 and are currently available on two "duo" CD sets from Phillips. Davis later recorded the cycle again and a third version is in process. But the Boston Symphony compilation is highly accessible and modestly priced. If you are looking for an introduction to the essential works of Sibelius, this set is for you.
I supplemented my recent listening to this music by reading the accounts of each of Sibelius' symphonies in Michael Steinberg's excellent reference book : "The Symphony a Listener's Guide" (1995). I also have read the account of the violin concerto in Steinberg's parallel guide to the standard concerto repertory. Listeners wanting a more detailed discussion of the symphonies and concerto than that found in most liner notes, including the notes for this set, will greatly benefit from reading Steinberg.
This CD opens with Sibelius' symphony no. 3 in C major composed in 1904. This is a three-movement work in which the composer finds fully his own voice. The work is spare and neoclassical in style, written with both energy and restraint. The first movement opens with a brisk, characteristic theme for cello and bass. The second movement is intermezzo-like, with rhythmic ambiguity and a lovely singing theme as it progresses. The finale is in two parts with ever-changing tempos and moods leading to a final climax at the end.
The symphony no. 6 in D, opus 104 dates from 1923 and has always been my favorite of the Sibelius symphonies. As Steinberg points out, much of this symphony is written in the Dorian mode (on the piano this consists of playing all the white keys beginning on D) giving the music an etherial and remote character. The scoring of this work is also unusual with Sibelius using a harp and a bass clarinet, both of which add a great deal of color to the orchestration. Although this symphony is in the standard four-movements it is far from traditional, as the music is weightless, enigmatic, and mysterious. It is restrained in tone and ends very softly after a remarkably beautiful theme in the strings. The sixth is a highly idiosyncratic work.
Sibelius' completed his final symphony, no. 7 in C in 1924. This is a work of only about 21 minutes in what is nominally a single movement. But in its short space, the symphony moves through a variety of tempos and moods, all tightly unified and flowing from one section to the next. Some hear the work in five sections while others hear it in three. Many critics have noted that "The Seventh Symphony consummates the nineteenth-century search for symphonic unity". (Steinberg, page 607, quoting Robert Layton.) The work opens with a long slow section based upon a drum-tap and an ascending scale and concludes with a loud, triumphant chord in the brass on C major. This is tightly-written yet romantic and passionate music that will repay many listenings. Even though Sibelius lived more than 30 years after completing this work, he composed no more symphonies.
This CD also includes Sibelius' violin concerto in D minor opus 47 which the composer wrote in 1903 and revised in 1905. This work has at least found its place in the standard concert repertory. (It was recently programmed a few weeks apart in my area by the National Symphony Orchestra in Washington D.C. and by the Fairfax Symphony Orchestra in suburban Virginia.) The work is performed here by Salvatore Accardo with Colin Davis conducting the London Symphony Orchestra. The violin concerto differs from Sibelius' symphonic writing in that it is unabashedly and passionately romantic in character and a crushingly difficult, virtuoso piece for the soloist. The first movement includes a long, famous and showy cadenza followed by a long meditative slow movement and a lively, icy finale. This is one of the finest twentieth-century violin concertos and worthy to stand with its great nineteenth century predecessors.
The CD closes with three of Sibelius' shorter works for orchestra including his most familiar work, "Finlandia" , composed in 1899, which for some years was the only work of the composer to get a hearing. It also includes the long tone-poem "Tapiola", one of the composer's last important works and written after the seventh symphony. But the highlight of these last three works is "The Swan of Tuneola" opus 22, which includes an inimitable solo for the English Horn performed here by Laurence Thorstenborg.
This CD and its companion are ideal ways to get to know the music of Sibelius.
Robin Friedman
WONDERFUL SOUND!
The orchestra here sounds so vast and powerful--but also it carries a mellowness, a smoothness. Fantastic listening!
It's a bit like the gutsy sound of Beethoven melded with the easy sound of Faure's choral stuff. Can't say enough about this!
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