Sibelius Symphony No.2 - Great Recordings

[Sergeant Rock]

Is the live version from Japan the only recording available from Cleveland/Szell?

Yes, it's the only one. There's also the famous Concertgebouw recording. As Scarpia mentioned, it's a good one too...but ever since acquiring (from the orchestra's shop at Severance Hall) the live performance, I rarely listen to it.

Edit: you might consider that Concertgebouw recording. The Tokyo live is expensive. I see at Amazon you can buy the Szell Decca/Philips box for the same price. Besides the Sibelius, you get a fantastic Beethoven 5, a complete Egmont, Tchaikovsky 4 (my preferred version) and a great Mozart 34 as well as a few minor jewels.

Sarge

[AnthonyAthletic]

Szell/Cleveland and Bernstein/Vienna are the alpha and omega of Sibelius 2 interpretations. Start there 

Sarge

Can't really argue with the Sarge on this 

I could however throw in another old favourite of mine which is Monteux with the London SO.

Reading this forum really does determine what one listens to this evening when getting home from a weeks long slog....Sibelius 2 sounds good to me...may revisit Monteux tonight.

The mention of Kamu & Barbirolli have peaked my interest, I don't know these performances but have been thinking of buying the Barbirolli box for a while.

[Brian]

The mention of Kamu & Barbirolli have peaked my interest, I don't know these performances but have been thinking of buying the Barbirolli box for a while.

The Barbirolli everyone loves is a live recording with the Royal Philharmonic on Testament. Or at least that's the one everyone should[/it] prefer.

I listened to the Szell last night on youtube and was floored. It has taken me longer to enjoy Sibelius as much as other composers, but this version was something else. It certainly kept my attention the whole time. Great recommendation!!

I think I'll (re?)listen to that today.

[AnthonyAthletic]

The Barbirolli everyone loves is a live recording with the Royal Philharmonic on Testament. Or at least that's the one everyone should prefer.

Thanks Brian, I've just read the Amazon reviews...glowing! 

As a whole, how do you/others rate the EMI Barbirolli set, inc the 2nd?

[Itullian]

Karajan, EMI for me. epic.

[kyjo]

My top five Sibelius 2 performances in no particular order:

[asin]B0091JQH2Q[/asin]   [asin]B006UTDETE[/asin]   [asin]B000003GCO[/asin]   [asin]B0000D9Y7X[/asin]   [asin]B000001G8C[/asin]

A couple notes: I find the Beecham/RPO performance of the 2nd to be in an entirely different league than his cycle with the Halle Orchestra. Many may find the Bernstein unconventional, but I've always loved his interpretations (especially of late-romantic music), no matter how wildly out of the norm they may be.

P.S. Sorry the image for the Bernstein recording isn't working; here it is:

[TheGSMoeller]

Does anyone have the timings for all these 2nd's and maybe others? I love the broad strokes that Bernstein uses in the finale, but there are times I want the finale to drive towards that coda, to build steam to that gorgeous chorale rather than stress ritardandos. I haven't see a score so perhaps it contains these markings.

[TheGSMoeller]

You can get a feel for it here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lL5ys4qnIy0. It looks like this is an LP transfer, so sound on the CD should be better. It's quite intense.

Wow. That's a Sibelius 2nd I can get behind, what a commanding finale. I was going to grab the Concertgebouw/Szell but now I'm nervous it won't be as good.   

[Mirror Image]

I enjoy Sibelius' 2nd but it's not a favorite of mine unlike his 4th, 6th, and 7th, but my votes go to Bernstein/NY Philharmonic and Davis/BSO. These two performances made favorable impressions on me when I first heard them.

[Sean]

Thanks for those timings Sarge!

[JDWalley]

Yes.

You need the Monteux recording.

Forget the rest.

Short review there but don't have much time for the forum these days. Best, Sean

Amen!

[Sergeant Rock]

Does anyone have the timings for all these 2nd's and maybe others?

Sibelius 2 timings, in order from fastest first movement to slowest. The Szell and Saraste live recordings are the actual times of the performances, not the times listed in the booklet (which include pauses between movements and applause). I don't have the Barbirolli/Testament or Chesky timings.


Järvi/Gothenburg                8:48  13:54  5:57  12:59
Toscanini/BBC                     8:49  12:37  5:50  12:16
Berglund/COE                     9:07  13:30  5:59  12:55
Szell/Cleveland                   9:12  12:48  5:52  14:03
Vänskä/Lahti                       9:14  14:25  5:57  14:55
Levi/Cleveland                    9:15  12:47  5:30  13:22
Saraste/Finnish RSO           9:18  13:32  5:48  13:13
Szell/Concertgebouw         9:24  12:40  5:54  13:41
Bernstein/New York            9:25  14:43  5:41  14:34
Rozhdestvensky/Moscow   9:36  15:00  5:52  14:30
Davis/Boston                      9:40  14:35  5:57  14:31
Davis/LSO Live                   9:43  14:52  6:06  14:02
Maazel/Vienna                   9:44  13:02  6:05  14:13
Berglund/Bournemouth      9:50  15:26  6:01  13:37
Sakari/Iceland                    9:54  14:47  6:17  14:03
Blomstedt/San Fran           9:56  14:18  6:08  14:10
Segerstam/Helsinki          10:06  15:03  6:23  14:13
Davis/LSO RCA                 10:13  15:25  6:07  14:45
Monteux/LSO                   10:16  14:36  6:15  12:49
Celibidache/Swed RSO     10:16  16:03  5:49  14:21
Sanderling/Berlin SO        10:23  13:15  7:01  14:48
Barbirolli/Hallé                  10:33  15:02  5:58  14:22       
Ashkenazy/Philh              10:37  15:01  6:17  14:26 
Bernstein/Vienna             10:54  18:02  6:23  15:57
Maazel/Pittsburgh           11:28  14:34  6:18  14:33

[Cato]

Check this out: it says Toscanini with the NBC Orchestra, so not the same as the BBC recording previously mentioned, but the sound (for 1939) is pretty good.  You get a feel for the almost chamber-music clarity and the brisk pace.

http://www.youtube.com/vgQxbWgWMfoE

[Sergeant Rock]

http://www.youtube.com/v/gQxbWgWMfoE

There. I fixed it for you. Thank me later 

Sarge

[Parsifal]

There. I fixed it for you. Thank me later 

Although the white box did have more "chamber music clarity."

[Sergeant Rock]

Barbi/Testament: 10:13 14:26  6:01 13:58
Barbi/Chesky:      10:00 14:14 19 :40

Thank you, Annie.

Although the white box did have more "chamber music clarity."

Sarge

[TheGSMoeller]

Monteux/LSO                   10:16  14:36  6:15  12:49

Just listened to Monteux on Spotify, quite exhilarating. I'm starting to find my preference for Sibelius 2nd leaning towards a swifter tempo.

[Brian]

There. I fixed it for you. Thank me later 

Sarge

Gadzooks! That's one hell of a performance. Almost flawless first movement too, if the violins' opening motif was more sharply articulated it would be my ideal. Thanks folks

[Brahmsian]

Just listened to Monteux on Spotify, quite exhilarating. I'm starting to find my preference for Sibelius 2nd leaning towards a swifter tempo.

Same here Monkey Greg! 

[mjwal]

I get more out of the Toscanini and Monteux recordings than, say, Ormandy or Karajan - but I had become rather jaded until I found another Barbirolli performance on the net (statework blog), with the Boston SO (1964): it blew me away - it is so intense and revelatory that I can't listen to it again any time soon. - The timings are 9:52, 13:31 and 20:56 - from which you can see that he is a tad swifter in 1 and 2 than before, slightly more expansive in the last two movements than the Chesky, but it's the spontaneous interpretative freedom in concert that is so exciting.