The Snowshoed Sibelius

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Karajan's 'Tapiola' is very good but perhaps not great. I remember being very impressed with Segerstam's recordings of the work, including the earlier release, coupled with Symphony No.3 on Chandos I think. Berglund's Philharmonia performance on EMI is, in its rather undersated way, very moving as well.

Yes, indeed. I like Berglund's Bournemouth performance a lot. I don't believe I heard his Philharmonia performance, but I know I own it. I've heard so much that I tend to forget what I've heard and what I haven't heard from time to time.

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What would Sibelius be without his seven symphonies?

How about one of the greatest composers of songs?

It's true.

So good, in fact, that when orchestrated his songs take on a dimension rivaling that of his better-known symphonic works. And the quality is uniformly high.

So run, don't walk to hear what all the fuss is about!

I wish you were still posting, DD, but I have to agree with you. Sibelius' songs are magnificent. They truly are. Of course, the orchestrated songs are outstanding, but there's much to be said of the sparse piano writing in conjunction with an alluring voice, especially in the later songs. He certainly knew how to weave his magic in these works and, aside from the piano music, this is perhaps one of the more neglected parts of his oeuvre.

[Madiel]

Yes, I have the Krause/Gage, Söderström/Ashkenazy set that you recently purchased, and I did think quite a lot of times as I went through the set that there were a lot of incredibly good songs that should be better known.

But I guess part of the problem is simply that many of the singers who develop their reputation in German and/or French don't have the same skills in Swedish.

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Yes, I have the Krause/Gage, Söderström/Ashkenazy set that you recently purchased, and I did think quite a lot of times as I went through the set that there were a lot of incredibly good songs that should be better known.

But I guess part of the problem is simply that many of the singers who develop their reputation in German and/or French don't have the same skills in Swedish.

I also own the Sibelius Edition of the songs and this is the set I've actually spent the most time with. The Decca set just arrived in my mailbox yesterday so I haven't even listened to it yet, so my appreciation of the songs stems from my experience with the BIS set (which has a larger variety of vocalists/pianists and even some different arrangements of certain songs).

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The EMI tone poem set is excellent - probably my favorite versions of those works.


Also love the Violin Concerto on DG, a very Germanic/dramatic reading.

Man, I'm going to have to listen to this recording given your high marks.

[vandermolen]

Yes, indeed. I like Berglund's Bournemouth performance a lot. I don't believe I heard his Philharmonia performance, but I know I own it. I've heard so much that I tend to forget what I've heard and what I haven't heard from time to time.

Here it is:

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Here it is:

I bought that recording earlier today, Jeffrey. Looking forward to listening to it. Thanks for the heads-up about it.

[vandermolen]

I bought that recording earlier today, Jeffrey. Looking forward to listening to it. Thanks for the heads-up about it.

Oh great! Look forward to hearing your thoughts on it John. Berglund is very good in Tapiola but this is my favourite recording of his various interpretations.

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Oh great! Look forward to hearing your thoughts on it John. Berglund is very good in Tapiola but this is my favourite recording of his various interpretations.

What do you think of Vänskä's Sibelius recordings, Jeffrey? Also, have you listened to any of the works for solo piano or songs?

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I revisited two of Sibelius' incidental works tonight: Jedermann, Op. 83 (which was composed soon after Symphony No. 5) and Swanwhite, Op. 54 (which is actually JS 189 since I listened to the complete work which later turned into Op. 54 after he arranged it for a suite). Both of these works have all of the Sibelian trademarks and both couldn't be any more different from the other. Jedermann, Op. 83 has an unusual structure, but there's some quite haunting music to be found in this work, especially the last couple of movements. An interesting motif that develops in this work's fifteenth movement (Lento) reminds me of a section from his Symphony No. 4 (the slow movement, Il tempo largo) and this is just something I found interesting. There's also a fast movement in Jedermann (the tenth movement Allegro molto) that I found absolutely stunning and called to mind the more freewheeling moments in Symphony No. 5, especially in the last movement of that symphony. Check these works out if you haven't already. I played the performances from the Sibelius Edition, Theatre Music, which both works featured Vänskä and Lahti SO.

[kyjo]

I revisited two of Sibelius' incidental works tonight: Jedermann, Op. 83 (which was composed soon after Symphony No. 5) and Swanwhite, Op. 54 (which is actually JS 189 since I listened to the complete work which later turned into Op. 54 after he arranged it for a suite). Both of these works have all of the Sibelian trademarks and both couldn't be any more different from the other. Jedermann, Op. 83 has an unusual structure, but there's some quite haunting music to be found in this work, especially the last couple of movements. An interesting motif that develops in this work's fifteenth movement (Lento) reminds me of a section from his Symphony No. 4 (the slow movement, Il tempo largo) and I this is just something I found interesting. There's also a fast movement in Jedermann (the tenth movement Allegro molto) that I found absolutely stunning and called to mind the more freewheeling moments in Symphony No. 5, especially in the last movement of that symphony. Check these works out if you haven't already. I played the performances from the Sibelius Edition, Theatre Music, which both works featured Vänskä and Lahti SO.

Very interesting, John! Thanks for the informative post. I haven't heard either of these works (aside from an extract from Swanwhite which was quite beautiful), so I'll be sure to check them out based on your recommendation.

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Very interesting, John! Thanks for the informative post. I haven't heard either of these works (aside from an extract from Swanwhite which was quite beautiful), so I'll be sure to check them out based on your recommendation.

You're welcome, Kyle. I think you'll enjoy both of these works. Please post your comments on them here whenever you've heard them as I'd like to pick your mind about them.

[vandermolen]

What do you think of Vänskä's Sibelius recordings, Jeffrey? Also, have you listened to any of the works for solo piano or songs?

I've enjoyed all the Vanska recordings I have John including, off the top of my head, Kullervo, symphonies 2 and 3 the Wood Nymph and the Complete Tempest music. Oh, and in particular the original version of Symphony No.5. No, I don't know the piano music or the songs.

[Madiel]

I've remarked on much of the theatre music on the WAYLTN thread as I've gone through it. The main thing being much the same observation as MI, of how different plays elicited very different music.

I'm using the Naxos box of Segerstam's recordings, which uses the full versions of scores rather than the suites when both exist (and also has various small orchestral pieces as filler). Though in the majority of cases there isn't that much music that didn't make its way into a suite. The liner notes also discuss a couple of the instances where Sibelius consciously didn't create a suite, on the grounds that the music wasn't really that suitable for separate concert performance.

The only one I haven't yet listened to properly is The Tempest which is the one that isn't in the Naxos box.

[Mirror Image]

I've remarked on much of the theatre music on the WAYLTN thread as I've gone through it. The main thing being much the same observation as MI, of how different plays elicited very different music.

I'm using the Naxos box of Segerstam's recordings, which uses the full versions of scores rather than the suites when both exist (and also has various small orchestral pieces as filler). Though in the majority of cases there isn't that much music that didn't make its way into a suite. The liner notes also discuss a couple of the instances where Sibelius consciously didn't create a suite, on the grounds that the music wasn't really that suitable for separate concert performance.

The only one I haven't yet listened to properly is The Tempest which is the one that isn't in the Naxos box.

Oh, you've got to hear The Tempest, Madiel. Perhaps the greatest incidental music he's written and I say perhaps because there's so much wonderful music he wrote in this medium. There are only two complete recordings of The Tempest: Saraste/Finnish RSO on Ondine (which is OOP) and Vänskä/Lahti SO on BIS.

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I've enjoyed all the Vanska recordings I have John including, off the top of my head, Kullervo, symphonies 2 and 3 the Wood Nymph and the Complete Tempest music. Oh, and in particular the original version of Symphony No.5. No, I don't know the piano music or the songs.

Vänskä is one of my favorite Sibelians, so naturally I've tried to track down everything I could of his. Thankfully, most of it is found in the Sibelius Edition sets (Symphonies, Theatre Music, Tone Poems, and Orchestral Works), which I'm now the proud owner of all thirteen volumes. One of the milestones in recorded history, IMHO. It's no wonder why BIS advertises their Sibelius Edition so much --- I would be proud of this accomplishment as well.

[Madiel]

Oh, you've got to hear The Tempest, Madiel. Perhaps the greatest incidental music he's written and I say perhaps because there's so much wonderful music he wrote in this medium. There are only two complete recordings of The Tempest: Saraste/Finnish RSO on Ondine (which is OOP) and Vänskä/Lahti SO on BIS.

I'll be streaming one once my chronological listening gets up to it.

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I'll be streaming one once my chronological listening gets up to it.

Sounds like a plan.

[Madiel]

Sounds like a plan.

Oh it's a plan alright. I've got all of the orchestral music carefully listed in order of composition. If you think about it you even know where I'm up to (if I mention Ashkenazy as conductor...)

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Oh it's a plan alright. I've got all of the orchestral music carefully listed in order of composition. If you think about it you even know where I'm up to (if I mention Ashkenazy as conductor...)

Yes, indeed. So since you're going chronologically, I take it you've listened the juvenilia works already?