The Snowshoed Sibelius

[North Star]

Lovely!

And, gosh: I know Iain . . . .

Lovely indeed, Karl, and the best hint at what might have been the 8th symphony.

[Ken B]

I'm inclined to agree. Along with Pohjola's daughter it's at the very top.

Huh? Isn't that by John Williams?

[71 dB]

I wonder what Theophilus Bultinghorn would have thought about that?

[Sits back and waits to see ...]

It's debatable whether Theophilus Bultinghorn is worth a debate or not...

[Brian]

Well, this is it. This is the big moment. I found the one.



After 10 years of searching, I've finally found a Sibelius violin concerto recording to be satisfied with. It's been a long and sometimes fairly desperate search. But this is The One.

My criteria, I always knew, were way outside the Sibelian mainstream. It's why most people's recommendations were turning me off - my tastes are just weird. A lively tempo in the first movement, kept under 16 minutes, not too dreary or frigid. (Eliminated: Hilary Hahn, Leonidas Kavakos, Pekka Kuusisto, Julian Rachlin, Viktoria Mullova, etc.) A truly huge violinist tone and presence, ardently romantic, married to absolute technical and emotional control. (Eliminated: Itzhak Perlman, Christian Tetzlaff.) Stereo sound and a responsive, well-miked orchestra. (Eliminated: Ivry Gitlis, Jascha Heifetz, Dong-Suk Kang, Oistrakh/Ehrling.) This left a "Hall of Almost Being Right" including such almost-right recordings as Adele Anthony, her husband Gil Shaham, Frank Peter Zimmermann, and Oistrakh/Ormandy. For a long, long time I thought that Adele Anthony would be the best I'd ever find. (Kavakos is still the worst.)

But Mutter/Previn...they GET it, man. The tense push-and-pull between big heart-on-sleeve romantic rhapsodizing and cold shot-of-vodka realism. The flexibility to be both warm and cool. The need to finish the concerto within, say, 32 minutes. The copious opportunities for portamenti.

Yeah, I can imagine a better performance/recording. I've spent 10 years hearing better performances in my head. But you know what? Close enough. This is pretty f'in great. It's the first Sibelius concerto I've really loved since the mono masters of Gitlis, Heifetz, and Oistrakh. And today is a good day. 

[Brahmsian]

Well, this is it. This is the big moment. I found the one.



After 10 years of searching, I've finally found a Sibelius violin concerto recording to be satisfied with. It's been a long and sometimes fairly desperate search. But this is The One.

My criteria, I always knew, were way outside the Sibelian mainstream. It's why most people's recommendations were turning me off - my tastes are just weird. A lively tempo in the first movement, kept under 16 minutes, not too dreary or frigid. (Eliminated: Hilary Hahn, Leonidas Kavakos, Pekka Kuusisto, Julian Rachlin, Viktoria Mullova, etc.) A truly huge violinist tone and presence, ardently romantic, married to absolute technical and emotional control. (Eliminated: Itzhak Perlman, Christian Tetzlaff.) Stereo sound and a responsive, well-miked orchestra. (Eliminated: Ivry Gitlis, Jascha Heifetz, Dong-Suk Kang, Oistrakh/Ehrling.) This left a "Hall of Almost Being Right" including such almost-right recordings as Adele Anthony, her husband Gil Shaham, Frank Peter Zimmermann, and Oistrakh/Ormandy. For a long, long time I thought that Adele Anthony would be the best I'd ever find. (Kavakos is still the worst.)

But Mutter/Previn...they GET it, man. The tense push-and-pull between big heart-on-sleeve romantic rhapsodizing and cold shot-of-vodka realism. The flexibility to be both warm and cool. The need to finish the concerto within, say, 32 minutes. The copious opportunities for portamenti.

Yeah, I can imagine a better performance/recording. I've spent 10 years hearing better performances in my head. But you know what? Close enough. This is pretty f'in great. It's the first Sibelius concerto I've really loved since the mono masters of Gitlis, Heifetz, and Oistrakh. And today is a good day. 

Glad you found 'The One' for you, Brian. 

For me, Hilary Hahn's recording remains 'The One' for me.  Turned this into my favourite Violin Concerto of any composer, eclipsing my long favourite Brahms & Beethoven. 

[Elgarian]

Well, this is it. This is the big moment. I found the one.



After 10 years of searching, I've finally found a Sibelius violin concerto recording to be satisfied with. It's been a long and sometimes fairly desperate search. But this is The One.

My criteria, I always knew, were way outside the Sibelian mainstream. It's why most people's recommendations were turning me off - my tastes are just weird. A lively tempo in the first movement, kept under 16 minutes, not too dreary or frigid. (Eliminated: Hilary Hahn, Leonidas Kavakos, Pekka Kuusisto, Julian Rachlin, Viktoria Mullova, etc.) A truly huge violinist tone and presence, ardently romantic, married to absolute technical and emotional control. (Eliminated: Itzhak Perlman, Christian Tetzlaff.) Stereo sound and a responsive, well-miked orchestra. (Eliminated: Ivry Gitlis, Jascha Heifetz, Dong-Suk Kang, Oistrakh/Ehrling.) This left a "Hall of Almost Being Right" including such almost-right recordings as Adele Anthony, her husband Gil Shaham, Frank Peter Zimmermann, and Oistrakh/Ormandy. For a long, long time I thought that Adele Anthony would be the best I'd ever find. (Kavakos is still the worst.)

But Mutter/Previn...they GET it, man. The tense push-and-pull between big heart-on-sleeve romantic rhapsodizing and cold shot-of-vodka realism. The flexibility to be both warm and cool. The need to finish the concerto within, say, 32 minutes. The copious opportunities for portamenti.

Yeah, I can imagine a better performance/recording. I've spent 10 years hearing better performances in my head. But you know what? Close enough. This is pretty f'in great. It's the first Sibelius concerto I've really loved since the mono masters of Gitlis, Heifetz, and Oistrakh. And today is a good day. 

Wonderful. Thanks for this Brian. I shall put it on my list of wants.*


* No, scratch that. I just found a cheap used copy on Amazon and have ordered it.

[Mirror Image]

The Hahn/Salonen performance is still the one to beat for me with Kuusisto/Segerstam coming in a distant second place. I heard the Mutter/Previn and my reaction after it was "Meh. I've heard better." Nothing too special about it for me.

[Pat B]

Brian, now that you've found The One... have you tried Leila Josefowicz? I think she meets your stated criteria. You might find other problems, but she's worth a listen at least.

[Jo498]

So you are telling me not to bother with the "original version" BIS disc by Kavakos?

I don't sufficiently care for the piece, I am afraid (still for some reason I am slightly enticed by that "original version" BIS disc).
I got rid of Mutter's  a few months ago... too "romantic", I thought, but mainly because I felt that with Heifetz (probably 2: Beecham and the stereo one), Oistrakh/Roshdestvensky I had enough (that is, mainly having the piece at all). I still keep Tetzlaff because of the fillers (but tbh I probably care even less about them...)

[amw]

I only have Mullova (which I got for the Tchaikovsky anyway). I don't really like the piece either, but then I have a pretty weird relationship with Sibelius, where three of the symphonies made an absolutely shattering effect on me, four of them I'm kinda indifferent to and everything else I've listened to hasn't held my attention.

[El Chupacabra]

After 10 years of searching, I've finally found a Sibelius violin concerto recording to be satisfied with. It's been a long and sometimes fairly desperate search. But this is The One.

My criteria...the first movement, kept under 16 minutes,...The need to finish the concerto within, say, 32 minute

You've got the conductor right, but your soloist is still wrong  ...no more hints

[Karl Henning]

So you are telling me not to bother with the "original version" BIS disc by Kavakos?

[...] My criteria, I always knew, were way outside the Sibelian mainstream.

Brian may not be telling any of us any particular thing.  But he is sharing his joy in discovery.

[Brian]

So you are telling me not to bother with the "original version" BIS disc by Kavakos?

I don't sufficiently care for the piece, I am afraid (still for some reason I am slightly enticed by that "original version" BIS disc).
I got rid of Mutter's  a few months ago... too "romantic", I thought, but mainly because I felt that with Heifetz (probably 2: Beecham and the stereo one), Oistrakh/Roshdestvensky I had enough (that is, mainly having the piece at all). I still keep Tetzlaff because of the fillers (but tbh I probably care even less about them...)

Karl is right - I'm not telling anyone anything, especially when my taste so clearly differs from the mainstream. The mainstream, I think, is more aligned with you (Mutter being too romantic) and Mirror Image (who thinks Hahn and Kuusisto aren't painfully dull ). And the mainstream loves Kavakos, a performance that drives me mad.

Pat B, I'll try Leila J. next!

[Brian]

You've got the conductor right, but your soloist is still wrong  ...no more hints

That one is very, very, very high on my wishlist.

[Jo498]

But what's the deal about that "original version" with Kavakos? Is this something a listener rather indifferent to the piece (I like the beginning, though) will even realize? Or make me less indifferent? Or is it more for dedicated Sibelius specialists?

[Jo498]

I only have Mullova (which I got for the Tchaikovsky anyway). I don't really like the piece either, but then I have a pretty weird relationship with Sibelius, where three of the symphonies made an absolutely shattering effect on me, four of them I'm kinda indifferent to and everything else I've listened to hasn't held my attention.

I am fairly indifferent to the composer as well. Only sometimes and for some passages or movements I can barely understand the strong positive (as well as negative) reactions Sibelius' music seems to evoke or provoke with some listeners.
The concerto and the first symphony seem nice and somewhat original spins on the late romantic idiom (but for me nothing especially great). Similarly, the 2nd, but depending on mood this is one of my guilty pleasures. I am puzzled/bored by the 3rd, quite like the 4th and 6th, do not dislike but even less understand all the fuzz about the fifth symphony. I'd have to re-acquaint myself with the 7th, I think I also found that one rather elusive and enigmatic. (Not familiar enough with most of the tone poems.)

[Brian]

But what's the deal about that "original version" with Kavakos? Is this something a listener rather indifferent to the piece (I like the beginning, though) will even realize? Or make me less indifferent? Or is it more for dedicated Sibelius specialists?

The original version, as I recall (it has been a few years), is somewhat longer, less concise, fairly badly organized, and probably not a good purchase unless you, in the coming years, become a massive Sibelius lover who lives and breathes the Sibelian spirit.

[Elgarian]

Brian may not be telling any of us any particular thing.  But he is sharing his joy in discovery.

Exactly so, Karl. That's precisely why I want to listen to it. I don't want to compare it with other versions - I just want to gatecrash Brian's party.

[amw]

for some passages or movements I can barely understand the strong positive (as well as negative) reactions Sibelius' music seems to evoke or provoke with some listeners.

I don't know either tbh. My feeling is that when I was 14 or so I was struggling with severe mental health issues and first starting to understand what I was, and Sibelius 3, 4 and 6 were in the right place at the right time. I know of no one else who has the same reactions to them. (Also to a lesser extent the first movement of 5 and—in a completely different way—the first movement of 2.) And works I only got to know much later (like 7 and Tapiola) that have many of the same characteristics never had the same effect.

I did listen to the performance of the Violin Concerto obliquely recommended by El Chupacabra, which is better than almost every other one I've heard, though I still can't muster much enthusiasm for the piece.

[Wanderer]

But what's the deal about that "original version" with Kavakos? Is this something a listener rather indifferent to the piece (I like the beginning, though) will even realize? Or make me less indifferent?

You will most certainly realize the difference, because the differences are substantial. The original version is more virtuosic, there are extended passages that do not appear in the final version (some really exquisite episodes there) and the orchestration is more raw and menacing. In both versions, Kavakos combines primal power and supreme artistry. Understanding where the piece came from and how it evolved might help you, but then it might not. I can only offer my unreserved recommendation.