The Snowshoed Sibelius

[Sergeant Rock]

Thanks, Sergeant--so the other recordings on Warner/Elatus/Finlandia are all one-and-the-same Saraste cycle?!

I think so...unless he's doing a third cycle   The one exception I notice is the Toronto Lemminkäinen Suite which isn't the same one that was part of his first cycle (and coupled with the Seventh Symphony). The Toronto recording is a 21st century production.

Sarge

[Drasko]

There is another set you can add to your table, Akeo Watanabe on Denon. He actually recorded two cycles, one in the 60s and another, digital, in the 80s. Later one seems in print.


http://www.hmv.co.jp/product/detail/2540725

[karlhenning]

I seem to have ended up with no less than twelve of the above complete cycles in my collection, I realise...

Yes, this topic is rife with temptation.

Must resist . . . .

[Sergeant Rock]

Upon further investigation I came upon the Saraste's first cycle (including Kullervo) offered at Amazon.de on two twofers...well, not exactly twofers now since the used price for the box that includes Kullervo is more than I want to pay right now.

Sarge

[jlaurson]

Upon further investigation I came upon the Saraste's first cycle (including Kullervo) offered at Amazon.de on two twofers...well, not exactly twofers now since the used price for the box that includes Kullervo is more than I want to pay right now.

Sarge

Where does RCA come in the picture? Ultima was a super-budget (or at least budget)-priced Warner sublabel... so that's the same stuff that's on Elatus/Apex... which is the same stuff that was on Finlandia. No? These even have the Finlandia logo on the cover.

[Wanderer]

The one you pictured is the live set recorded on tour in St. Petersburg.

Exactly (recorded in 1993, if I remember correctly). The one I'm talking about was recorded in 1995 (or so is mentioned in the booklets); the one that Sarge mentions (on Ultima) must be the live recordings.

[Tapio Dimitriyevich Shostakovich]

Wurstwasser: "Ashkenazy's Russian cycle?" Which one are you talking about.

Oh, what I meant was "cycles by russian conductors" . Ashkenazy/Philharmonia
Ehrling is available on hmv as well. http://www.hmv.co.jp/product/detail/441019

[Sergeant Rock]

Where does RCA come in the picture? Ultima was a super-budget (or at least budget)-priced Warner sublabel... so that's the same stuff that's on Elatus/Apex... which is the same stuff that was on Finlandia. No? These even have the Finlandia logo on the cover.

You're right of course. I was confused about the provenance of Ultima and Elatus/Apex. It appears then that Saraste's RCA cycle is no longer available.

Sarge

[DavidRoss]

I don't know David?  Please keep in mind, I'm a veritable newbie in the Sibelius arena, and particularly Sibelius 7th!  It is the atmosphere and mood of the symphony.  Reminded me of a vast northern landscape, and I got to think of Strauss' Eine Alpensinfonie.  Whether I'm in my own little world or not, both works are my favorites respectably for both composers (Symphony No. 2 coming in a close 2nd for Sibelius, and Don Quixote for Strauss). 

A follow up, ChamberNut:

I listened to Jochum's Alpensinfonie yesterday (at least the first part--I confess my mind wandered and soon my body followed!) and heard a lot of Wagner and some proto-Rosenkavalier, but no Sibelius.  But if Alpensinfonie seems like a landscape to you, and the 7th also, then I see why you might regard them as similar.

I'm always delighted when someone discovers Sibelius.  To those who know his work, he's a giant, but mainstream opinion still tends to marginalize him.  The wheel is turning, however, and the cream eventually rises to the top.

[ChamberNut]

A follow up, ChamberNut:

I listened to Jochum's Alpensinfonie yesterday (at least the first part--I confess my mind wandered and soon my body followed!) and heard a lot of Wagner and some proto-Rosenkavalier, but no Sibelius.  But if Alpensinfonie seems like a landscape to you, and the 7th also, then I see why you might regard them as similar.

Thanks David.

As Mahler10th indicated....I guess it was just me. 

[karlhenning]

As Dave indicated, Ray: The more of Sibelius's music you get to know, the better you like him.

Trust Me™

[DavidRoss]

Trust Me™

Reminds me of:

[Benji]

Has anyone any thoughts on the new Ashkenazy cycle? It's really expensive in the UK and I have no strong feelings either way towards his first cycle so i'm in no rush unless I can be convinced otherwise!

[eyeresist]

I think we're all waiting for the price to drop.

[Benji]

I think we're all waiting for the price to drop.

Damn credit crunch eh! 

[jlaurson]

Has anyone any thoughts on the new Ashkenazy cycle? It's really expensive in the UK and I have no strong feelings either way towards his first cycle so i'm in no rush unless I can be convinced otherwise!

A friend at the local record store really likes them (as he does Exton's Macal Mahler). He convinced a colleague of mine to get one of them (while I got the Mahler 4th). What I heard back was positive, I believe... but I neither trust that colleagues ears all that much, nor did he rave.
I do, however, have strong (positive) feelings toward the first cycle, so I am mildly intrigued. Now: Just where's Exton's contact information?! 

[matti]

Interesting interviews of Berglund, Vänskä, Rattle, Salonen, Davis etc. on Sibelius in 1999:

http://www.fmq.fi/articles/ar_1999_1_vs.html

[DavidRoss]

Interesting interviews of Berglund, Vänskä, Rattle, Salonen, Davis etc. on Sibelius in 1999:

http://www.fmq.fi/articles/ar_1999_1_vs.html

It's a pleasure to read that article again.  Colin Davis's comments certainly clarify why he's clueless.  I like Rattle's comment that

...if it was [sic] possible to concentrate a Wagner opera into ten minutes, then maybe you would come up with the first movements of the Fourth Symphony. Something maybe could connect Sibelius to the third act of Parsifal. But Sibelius is so concentrated and exact. Wagner may be very exact but he is not concentrated," he laughs.

"With Sibelius you feel that if one drop touches your skin it will burn right through to the bone."

Berglund and Vänskä's comments are illuminating, as are their recordings, and reading this again reminds me that it's been awhile since I last heard Berglund's COE 4th, which may be my favorite.  Thanks for posting this link, Matti!

[Moldyoldie]

(Pasted from "What Are You Listening To?")

Rondo of the Waves
Sibelius: Aallottaret (The Oceanides, Yale version);  Fragments from a Suite for Orchestra / Predecessor of The Oceanides;    Cassazione (first version);    Musik zu einer Scène;    Coronation March;    Morceau romantique;    Porilaisten marssi;    Cortège;    Spring Song (1895 version);    The Oceanides (Aallottaret, final version)
Lahti Symphony Orchestra
Osmo Vänskä, cond
BIS
After having cursorily perused reviews, I was fully expecting this fancifully titled album to consist of more unfinished "works in progress" and lesser sounding "original versions" unearthed by scholars and presented in the BIS label's continuing project to record EVERYTHING Sibelius ever put down -- how miscalculating I was!

Yes, perhaps only The Oceanides is generally familiar to music lovers (the album's title was this work's original working title), but every single track on this CD is a musical gem by any account!  Hearing the so-called Yale version of The Oceanides and the two short fragments of a projected suite from which it sprang make one hear this stirring and evocative music anew.  While the work's themes may have had their genesis at a previous time, it was actually brought to initial fruition in 1914 via commission the previous year, induced by an American scholar from wealthy American patrons.  While Sibelius eventually reworked it, a completed score of this original version ended up in the archives of Yale University and was recently brought to light.  (While I'm thinking of it, special props go out to scribe Andrew Barnett, the gist of whose fine album notes can also be found in Chapter 11 of his 2007 book on the composer from Yale Press.) 

The original versions of Cassazione and Spring Song are especially alluring, while the two brief marches add an enlivening rhythmic jolt to a program that's wonderfully varied. Nine of the ten works presented on the CD represent world premiere recordings, making it definitely of interest to hardcore Sibelians.  What I'm so bold to suggest, however, is that this music is so compellingly performed and recorded as to be a thorough delight for even the Sibelian novice or the aforementioned general music lover. Appropriately, the program ends with a hauntingly expansive performance of The Oceanides...the final version.

[Moldyoldie]

(Pasted from "What Are You Listening To?")

Sibelius: Karelia Suite;   The Oceanides;    Finlandia;   Valse Triste;    Tapiola;    Night Ride and Sunrise
London Symphony Orchestra
Sir Colin Davis, cond.
RCA
Outside of the gorgeously recorded orchestral sound (RCA and the LSO seem to strike a chord with me, ever since Previn's Vaughan Williams cycle), this is Sibelius from a relaxing spa (or as has been suggested, a geriatric ward) -- perhaps only ephemerally and superficially evocative of rugged landscapes, savage myths, but not the least of "cool, clear water".  Davis and the LSO  make "beautiful music" of these incredible Sibelian inventions in performances stripped of spontaneity and milked for all the lushness and warmth of sonority that can possibly be mustered.   I'm not altogether convinced these performances even work as drama, especially for the novice listener.  However, one can certainly bask in the pure sound of it all.