The Snowshoed Sibelius

Started by Dancing Divertimentian, April 16, 2007, 08:39:57 PM

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North Star

Quote from: ChamberNut on June 09, 2014, 03:53:06 AM
I have not, but many people have and view it favourably.  Many prefer Maazel's recording with the Pittsburgh SO over the Vienna.
Dang, and you have to post this just as I am listening to Nos. 4 & 5 from the Vienna cycle.  >:(   8)
"Everything has beauty, but not everyone sees it." - Confucius

My photographs on Flickr

Brahmsian

Quote from: Sergeant Rock on June 09, 2014, 04:18:02 AM
Like night and day. It could be two different conductors so different are they. The Vienna performances are swift, craggy and given an in-your-face sound stage. Hearing this Fourth is like being stabbed with an icicle. The Pittsburgh perfomances are comparitively soft-focused, very beautiful and, except for the Third, much slower. He wallows in the music--which isn't bad if one is in the mood for wallowing. As an example, here are the timings for the Seventh:

Maazel/Pittsburgh    25:53
Maazel/Vienna         21:18

Favorites: the Vienna 1, 4 and 7; Pittsburgh 3, 5 and 6.

Sarge

I enjoy quick tempos for # 2 and # 5.  I think it was Renfield who described the Maazel/Vienna 4th as being 'liquid nitrogen'.  :D

Jaakko Keskinen

There is one symphony of Sibelius that I don't like much (maybe I need to hear it more often) and that is the seventh. All other symphonies I love unconditionally.
"Javert, though frightful, had nothing ignoble about him. Probity, sincerity, candor, conviction, the sense of duty, are things which may become hideous when wrongly directed; but which, even when hideous, remain grand."

- Victor Hugo

Sergeant Rock

Quote from: Alberich on June 09, 2014, 05:44:08 AM
There is one symphony of Sibelius that I don't like much (maybe I need to hear it more often) and that is the seventh. All other symphonies I love unconditionally.

Yes, give it more time. If you need incentive, the Seventh received the most votes in the poll. It's a definite favorite around here.

http://www.good-music-guide.com/community/index.php/topic,20200.msg611350.html#msg611350


Sarge
the phone rings and somebody says,
"hey, they made a movie about
Mahler, you ought to go see it.
he was as f*cked-up as you are."
                               --Charles Bukowski, "Mahler"

Mirror Image

Quote from: Alberich on June 09, 2014, 05:44:08 AM
There is one symphony of Sibelius that I don't like much (maybe I need to hear it more often) and that is the seventh. All other symphonies I love unconditionally.

???

North Star

Quote from: Alberich on June 09, 2014, 05:44:08 AMThere is one symphony of Sibelius that I don't like much (maybe I need to hear it more often) and that is the seventh. All other symphonies I love unconditionally.
Just the kind of comment I want to read while I'm listening to Maazel & VPO's recording of it..
It might not be my favourite - then again, it might be.
Keep listening. :)
"Everything has beauty, but not everyone sees it." - Confucius

My photographs on Flickr

Jaakko Keskinen

Quote from: Sergeant Rock on June 09, 2014, 05:50:00 AM
Yes, give it more time. If you need incentive, the Seventh received the most votes in the poll. It's a definite favorite around here.

http://www.good-music-guide.com/community/index.php/topic,20200.msg611350.html#msg611350


Sarge

Why so little love for third in that poll?  ??? That symphony is one of the greatest no. 3 symphonies ever made, right there with Eroica, Mahler's and Bruckner's ambitious ones, Brahms's tender one, Saint-Saëns's Organ symphony and Schumann's magnificent work.
"Javert, though frightful, had nothing ignoble about him. Probity, sincerity, candor, conviction, the sense of duty, are things which may become hideous when wrongly directed; but which, even when hideous, remain grand."

- Victor Hugo

North Star

Quote from: Alberich on June 09, 2014, 08:48:56 AM
Why so little love for third in that poll?  ??? That symphony is one of the greatest no. 3 symphonies ever made, right there with Eroica, Mahler's and Bruckner's ambitious ones, Brahms's tender one, Saint-Saëns's Organ symphony and Schumann's magnificent work.
I love the third, too - but the later ones are more, I don't know... pure, distilled Sibelius. The early ones must have gotten votes from those who prefer their romanticism to the sparseness of the later ones.
"Everything has beauty, but not everyone sees it." - Confucius

My photographs on Flickr

Karl Henning

The Third is one of those quiet beauties.
Karl Henning, Ph.D.
Composer & Clarinetist
Boston MA
http://www.karlhenning.com/
[Matisse] was interested neither in fending off opposition,
nor in competing for the favor of wayward friends.
His only competition was with himself. — Françoise Gilot

not edward

#1489
I like the Third a lot. The problem with it, as far as I'm concerned, is that when I'm thinking of subtly understated symphonic writing, I've probably already queued up the Sixth...
"I don't at all mind actively disliking a piece of contemporary music, but in order to feel happy about it I must consciously understand why I dislike it. Otherwise it remains in my mind as unfinished business."
-- Aaron Copland, The Pleasures of Music

Mirror Image

Quote from: Alberich on June 09, 2014, 08:48:56 AM
Why so little love for third in that poll?  ??? That symphony is one of the greatest no. 3 symphonies ever made, right there with Eroica, Mahler's and Bruckner's ambitious ones, Brahms's tender one, Saint-Saëns's Organ symphony and Schumann's magnificent work.

Sibelius' 3rd is one of my least favorites along with his 1st, 2nd, and 5th. For me, it doesn't get any better than the 4th, 6th, and 7th.

Ken B

Quote from: Alberich on June 09, 2014, 05:44:08 AM
There is one symphony of Sibelius that I don't like much (maybe I need to hear it more often) and that is the seventh. All other symphonies I love unconditionally.
Blasphemer!

:)

That is the greatest piece of music ever written.  :blank:

Wanderer

Quote from: Alberich on June 09, 2014, 05:44:08 AM
There is one symphony of Sibelius that I don't like much (maybe I need to hear it more often) and that is the seventh. All other symphonies I love unconditionally.

Give it more time. When it finally clicks you'll be happy you persevered.

Ken B

Quote from: Wanderer on June 10, 2014, 04:48:11 AM
Give it more time. When it finally clicks you'll be happy you persevered.
Amen brother, amen.

Karl Henning

Quote from: North Star on June 30, 2014, 03:06:44 PM
Thanks! Berglund & Helsinki are obviously a legendary team in Sibelius. Fitting time for listening to Berglund's recordings now, since he was a soccer fanatic, btw, spending rehearsal  breaks in Bournemouth outside kicking the ball.
That live recording of Storgårds & BBC SO was very good, too - although I recall a percussionist being a bit too enthusiastic at one point. :)

Tangentially, this listening has been the happy, serendiptitous inspiration of a co-worker telling me that she was listening to the Fifth Symphony, and really enjoying the whole . . . except for those last chords.  Although she is quite a lover of classical music, regularly goes to the Rhode Island Philharmonic concerts, I think this year may be her first go at the mighty Op.82.  Naturally, I asked her who the performers were . . . later that day she shot me a text message, Paavo Berglund [!!!]

When I saw her in the office next day, I gingerly asked, Do you recall which orchestra?  (It's the Bournemouth Symphony, and she has since lent me the CD, and in fact, I think the performance perfectly convincing.)  Anyway, I mentioned that I've heard Berglund with the Helsinki Phil . . . as a rule, she doesn't care to hear all that many different recordings of the same piece, but she did accept my offer to bring her "a couple" (I brought her four: Berglund/Helsinki Phil, Lenny/NY Phil, Rattle/CBSO, & Blomstedt/SFSO.)  Of course, I am giving her ample time to listen at her own pace.
Karl Henning, Ph.D.
Composer & Clarinetist
Boston MA
http://www.karlhenning.com/
[Matisse] was interested neither in fending off opposition,
nor in competing for the favor of wayward friends.
His only competition was with himself. — Françoise Gilot

Brahmsian

Quote from: karlhenning on July 01, 2014, 07:22:35 AM
Tangentially, this listening has been the happy, serendiptitous inspiration of a co-worker telling me that she was listening to the Fifth Symphony, and really enjoying the whole . . . except for those last chords.  Although she is quite a lover of classical music, regularly goes to the Rhode Island Philharmonic concerts, I think this year may be her first go at the mighty Op.82.  Naturally, I asked her who the performers were . . . later that day she shot me a text message, Paavo Berglund [!!!] Jarvi

Ahem, edited by:



:)

North Star

Quote from: karlhenning on July 01, 2014, 07:22:35 AM
Tangentially, this listening has been the happy, serendiptitous inspiration of a co-worker telling me that she was listening to the Fifth Symphony, and really enjoying the whole . . . except for those last chords.  Although she is quite a lover of classical music, regularly goes to the Rhode Island Philharmonic concerts, I think this year may be her first go at the mighty Op.82.  Naturally, I asked her who the performers were . . . later that day she shot me a text message, Paavo Berglund [!!!]

When I saw her in the office next day, I gingerly asked, Do you recall which orchestra?  (It's the Bournemouth Symphony, and she has since lent me the CD, and in fact, I think the performance perfectly convincing.)  Anyway, I mentioned that I've heard Berglund with the Helsinki Phil . . . as a rule, she doesn't care to hear all that many different recordings of the same piece, but she did accept my offer to bring her "a couple" (I brought her four: Berglund/Helsinki Phil, Lenny/NY Phil, Rattle/CBSO, & Blomstedt/SFSO.)  Of course, I am giving her ample time to listen at her own pace.
While we're waiting her comments on the performances, I'd be interested to read what you think of that group of recordings, both from Berglund included.
(I'm listening to Berglund & Helsinki Phil now, the brass in the first movement :) :))
"Everything has beauty, but not everyone sees it." - Confucius

My photographs on Flickr

Karl Henning

Quote from: North Star on July 01, 2014, 09:54:39 AM
(I'm listening to Berglund & Helsinki Phil now, the brass in the first movement :) :) )

I love that set!

Separately:

Quote from: Guy RickardsIn January 1916 he began to prepare the [Fifth] symphony for publication.  As he did so, he became increasingly dissatisfied with its structure, noting on 26 January, 'I am wrestling with God. I'd like to give my new symphony another, more human form.  Something closer to the earth, something more alive.  The problem is that during the course of the work I have changed.' A full recomposition was a daunting task and Sibelius's diary records no work on it from mid February until the beginning of October, when the necessity of finalizing the changes in time for a re-première on his fifty-first birthday was of increasing urgency.

From the Sibelius volume of the Phaidon series, pp. 134-135.
Karl Henning, Ph.D.
Composer & Clarinetist
Boston MA
http://www.karlhenning.com/
[Matisse] was interested neither in fending off opposition,
nor in competing for the favor of wayward friends.
His only competition was with himself. — Françoise Gilot

Dancing Divertimentian

#1498
Sibelius and the tone poem/occasional piece are no strangers of course but up till now some of the rarities on this absolutely fabulous Sibelius/Groves disc had slipped right past me. Happy to say I've amended that. 

A shortlist:

In Memoriam, Op.59
Canzonetta, Op.62a
Valse Romantique, Op.62b
Suite Mignonne, Op.98a
Suite Champetre, Op.98b


What a fabulous imagination Sibelius had. Even in some of the shortish works here his sense of proportion is dead-on. Not a note is wasted.

From the sound of it Sir Charles Groves and the Royal Liverpool PO give it their all in these performances, aided in no small measure by the dedicated sonics - that is, rich, punchy, warm, and wonderfully transparent (from 1973-75!).




[asin]B0000CGP1U[/asin]
Veit Bach-a baker who found his greatest pleasure in a little cittern which he took with him even into the mill and played while the grinding was going on. In this way he had a chance to have the rhythm drilled into him. And this was the beginning of a musical inclination in his descendants. JS Bach

vandermolen

Quote from: Dancing Divertimentian on July 03, 2014, 06:18:52 PM
Sibelius and the tone poem/occasional piece are no strangers of course but up till now some of the rarities on this absolutely fabulous Sibelius/Groves disc had slipped right past me. Happy to say I've amended that. 

A shortlist:

In Memoriam, Op.59
Canzonetta, Op.62a
Valse Romantique, Op.62b
Suite Mignonne, Op.98a
Suite Champetre, Op.98b


What a fabulous imagination Sibelius had. Even in some of the shortish works here his sense of proportion is dead-on. Not a note is wasted.

From the sound of it Sir Charles Groves and the Royal Liverpool PO give it their all in these performances, aided in no small measure by the dedicated sonics - that is, rich, punchy, warm, and wonderfully transparent (from 1973-75!).




[asin]B0000CGP1U[/asin]

I had the original LP release of Groves's 'The Tempest' my introduction to this fine work. I think that it was coupled with The Bard and In Memoriam, both great discoveries for me. Symphony No. 3 is one of my favourites. I think that it is the symphony in which Sibelius becomes Sibelius.
"Courage is going from failure to failure without losing enthusiasm" (Churchill).

'The test of a work of art is, in the end, our affection for it, not our ability to explain why it is good' (Stanley Kubrick).