Now and again a recording turns up by an artist not particuarly associated with Sibelius, but which perhaps surprisingly impresses.
I will start the ball rolling with a great account of the violin concerto from March, 1973.
The soloist is Pinchas Zukerman with the Munich Radio Orchestra under Rafael Kubelik.
Kubelik was a fine conductor who made great recordings of Dvorak and Mahler but his successful partnership with Zukerman makes me wish that he had turned his attention to Sibelius more often.
This is a live concert and Zukerman certainly goes all out with the virtuoso aspects of the work, but he is also finely tuned to its brooding poetic nature.
The slow movement is a gem. The opening woodwind theme in thirds sets the scene, and Zukermans violin sings. The second idea taken up by the strings, which transforms the gentle opening music into something more dramatic, is done superbly by Kubelik. Here many conductors step up the speed considerably, losing some of the musics intensity, but Kubelik holds back to dramatic effect, and the trumpet entry six bars after Fig. 1 is all the more telling.
In the last movement, Tovey's discription--'a polonaise for polar bears'--comes to mind. Zukerman's fiddling is superb, with marvellous rhythmic control, the interplay between 6/8 and 3/4 in the second theme is sparkling.
Overall this is a very impressive performance and puts a good number of accounts from some famous Sibelius conductors in the shade. Coupled with a thrilling Second Symphony from Celibidache.
Cd Living Stage LS 1010--kullervopete.

I haven't heard this performance - but shall keep my eyes open for it!

How about Pierre Monteux' recording of the Second Symphony with he LSO? Not exactly a conventional performance but he generates quite a storm in the finale.

Many years ago I heard a radio broadcast of Charles Munch conducting the Seventh. It's a pity it hasn't been broadcast since (to my knowledge) - the intensity of Koussevitzky but greater structural co-ordination and more virtuosic playing (Boston, if I remember correctly) - and better sound too, if only because it was newer. Eccentric? - yes. Unforgettable - ditto.

I too remember Munch's broadcast, it was indeed during his time at the helm of The Boston Symphony. Andrew was right, I wonder if a tape has survived.
I also have a soft spot for Monteux's Sib 2, I dont think it has ever been out of the catalogue.
You know, we Sibelians often moan about the Finnish Masters reception in France, but he has his admirer's. The great Cluytens programmed Sibelius regularly and I have a great LP of Sib 5 and Nightride with Georges Pretre and the Philharmonia.
One of the finest and most enthusiastic of present day French Sibelians is Yan Pascal Tortelier [son of Cellist Paul] I have heard the French maestro conduct magnificent accounts of Symphonies 1,2,4,5 and 7 here in Manchester during his time has principle conductor of the BBC Philharmonic. I understand that the young Tortelier got to know Sibelius from his father, during the days when he played cello in the Boston Symphony. It seems that Paul Tortelier fell in love with Sibelius's second.--kullervopete.

Hermann Abendroth [1883-1956] was one of the first German conductors to use the recording studio's at the beginning of the 1920's. Abendroth had a reputation for scrupulously adhering to the composers score. His performance of Sibelius 2 with the Radio S. O. Leipzig dates from 1951. It is an electrifying performance clocking in at 39' 45. It is in the Toscanini rather than the Bernstein mould, indeed the Finale at 11' 04 is positively athletic. But good to be able to hear one of the greatest German conductors of the first half of the 20th century in Sibelius.
Curiously the sleeve jacket refers to 'Jan' Sibelius.

Sibelius Symphony No. 2 Radio Symphony Orchestra Leipzig under Hermann Abendroth Arlecchino ARL 108

Gee, that's fast - but then Sibelius was always complaining that people played it too slowly. I'll seek it out if I possibly can. How does the first movement tempo compare with, say, Kajanus?

Just checked a few for comparison and I see that Abendroth's first movement takes 9' 35, exactly the same as Kamu with Berlin P. O. on Dg. In the second movement Abendroth clocks in at 13' 50, fairly quick but I see that Watanabe is faster at 13' 04 with the Japan Phil.
In the Vivacissimo, Abendroth is at 5' 56 compared to Ormandy's 5' 39 with Philadelphia.
Kajanus is very quick, the opening movement timed at 8' 14 and taking 38' 44 for the symphony.[Columbia May 1930]
Performance traditions change but the remarkable thing is that Sibelius's wonderful music seems to be able to stand up to changing fashions--surely a mark of greatness.--kullervopete.

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I have long admired the Austrian born American conductor Erich Leinsdorf [1912-1993] and especially for his Wagner. Although I have never identifyed him with Sibelius he did record the Violin Concerto with Itzhak Perlman in 1966.

Now Dutton have released a most interesting account of Sibelius 5 that Leinsdorf recorded in London in 1946 for Decca. First thing to point out is the superb 'natural' sound quality, it seems that only a year after WW2 Decca where well on the way to producing that special sound.

What of the performance.

Leinsdorf takes the huge first movement very 'fleet of foot' indeed. Timed at 11'-38 as against say Segerstam's 14'-33. We have some evidence that Sibelius himself envisaged a quicker pace than is usual today, but Leinsdorf pushes forward to hard, twice as the timpani rumble and the orchestra rise stepwise to a climax capped by the brass, the music is robbed of its power. With such momentum in the first half of the movement I thought that the 'scherzo' part would be less effective, but Leinsdorf relaxes slightly here to good effect. Very nice playing from LPO including horn and trumpet.

The second movement is nicely shaped with a sense of discovery and features some lovely woodwind, though the obsesive pizzicato with baling brass towards the end is rather hard pushed and Leinsdorf slows the musical flow right down at the close.

The Finale opens breathlessly and the big moment with horns and woodwind is sublime. The big surprise for me was the final appearance of the so called 'Swan Hymn' on the two trumpets. This is usually very much played 'Legato' against the rich strings, but here we get a very crisp 'Staccato' the effect of which I don't recall ever hearing before. I checked Koussevitzky's 1936 recording and clearly Leinsdorf does not get this idea from here!

To sum up this is a facinating Fifth, recorded at a time before Tuxen and Karajan set the fashion for a much broader and monumental approach. The London Phil play superbly for Leinsdorf and it seems that the symphony was recorded over two days. Also included is Leinsdorf's account of 'Alla Marcia' from Karelia Suite. This is a little gem, one of the best I have heard. It simply exudes the joy of music making.

The Leinsdorf Sibelius 5 is coupled with a 1947 performance of Sibelius 2 with Basil Cameron and LPO. I will review this performance later.--kp

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Sibelius 5 Leinsdorf Sibelius 2 Cameron Dutton CDBP 9788

Interesting discussion here.

I'm especially interested in the comments by Sibelius...that folks have the tendancy to play his music too slowly. Aside from the written Italian markings "Adagio, andante, allergro, etc.), did he ever put metronome markings in his scores?

I suppose conductors feel that brooding music should...well...brood, and thus be taken at a slow tempo. But the final movement of the 2nd taken at just over 11 minutes...wow! I imagine that stirs excitment like none other!

He later supplied a whole load of metronome markings, but these are by no means to be regarded as the last word. One day, one of us will make a list of them - but it will be a big job!

I too liked the Leinsdorf Fifth though I did feel that the scherzo section of the first movement doesn't achieve a satisfactory accelerando over a long time-frame (as the score requires - and on this point Sibbe was VERY specific in his metronome markings).

As regards metronome markings, Sibelius was not greatly enthusiastic about them but as Andrew B indicated, he did draw up some in later life. Usually at the request of a Publisher or a conductor. When Anthony Collins was preparing to record the comlete Symphonies in the 1950's he sent a lengthy telegram to Sibelius with detailed questions regarding tempo and phrasing etc. J.S replyed 'Metronome marks difficult to follow, conductor must have liberty to get performance living'. Clearly Sibelius prefered the conductor to exercise his artistic instincts to a degree. In fact if the conductor needed to ask to many questions then he might be better advised to leave the piece alone.--kp

Very good point, Kullervopete.
I might add that whatever info Collins got from Sibelius, he still chose to play the slow movement of No. 3 much, much faster than Sibelius indicated.

If he was opposed to metronome markings, he could hardly complain if conductors performed his works too slowly!

Yes, Sibelius was never completely satisfyed with any one of various recordings of his music over the years. When Beecham came to record the Fourth Symphony, his account was based closely on instructions given by Sibelius himself.
Walter Legge takes up the story:

'I said to Beecham: 'I want to record the fourth symphony and I'd like you to do it, but I haven't much money'. 'My dear boy, don't worry about that, I will prepare the piece, play it a few times in public and then record it quickly.' So I thought: thats very generous of him, and he invited me on a tour with him so I could be at rehearsals, but Sibelius's Fourth didn't appear on paper in any of the programmes and when we got to somewhere in Scotland, Dundee or it may have been Edinburgh, after the interval Beecham came out and made a speech to the public saying that he was delighted to tell them that they were the most intelligent public that he had ever met. Instead of playing Tchaikovsky's Fifth Symphony, which they knew by heart and had heard almost to nausea, he had been inundated with letters to do the Fourth Symphony of Sibelius. And he repeated this speech at two or three other concerts til he thought the piece 'sat'. Then we got back to London and recorded it. I was to busy to take the pressings over to Sibelius but I sent them to him and had the longest letter I have ever had from Sibelius--rehearsal letters, so many bars after, so many bars before, exactly the expression he wanted, this louder, that softer, expression marks all the way through, some crecendo out. I rang Beecham. He wasn't there; he phoned back a little later and said: 'Oh by the way, I've had a wire from Sibelius. He's delighted with the pressings you sent of his Fourth Symphony.' I said 'I had better come up and see you'. So I had a copy made of Sibelius's letter, knowing him I didn't want it to get into his hands, and I said 'Well the old mans not telling you the same story as me because you read that. He's out of his head, must have been drinking!' When I got back to the office, my secretary said to me; 'Beechams secretary has been on the phone-she wants Sibelius's address. I couldn't refuse to give it to her'; I said 'Of course not'. Next morning Beecham telephoned me and said; 'Have you had a wire from Sibelius?' I said yes; he said 'What does it say?' I said 'Well, guess'. He said 'All right, I'll do it again!'-kp

I found a bit of a curiosity on the internet: an LP of none other than Lukas Foss conducting his Buffalo orchestra in the Lemminkainen legends. Has anyone heard (of) this record? I haven't tried to get ahold of a copy yet, and it is out of print. It'd be interesting to hear still another noted composer's take on Sibelius' work!

World Violist wrote:

I found a bit of a curiosity on the internet: an LP of none other than Lukas Foss conducting his Buffalo orchestra in the Lemminkainen legends. Has anyone heard (of) this record? I haven't tried to get ahold of a copy yet, and it is out of print. It'd be interesting to hear still another noted composer's take on Sibelius' work!

I have had this LP for many years. Lukas Foss delivers an excellent account of the four Legends. Moreover the sound quality of my LP is superb with especially silent surfaces. The recording dates from 1968 and the original record has superb pictorial evocations of the Kalevala on both the back and front cover. If you can get hold of a decently looked-after copy--snap it up.-kp

Nonesuch H-71203

Following yesterdays post, I was looking through the Gramophone magazine obituarys and I was saddened to see that Lucas Foss died in Newyork on February 1st, 2009. He was 86. Lucas Foss was born in Berlin and came to the US in 1937 with his Jewish family. He became Koussevitzky's conducting assistant at Tanglewood, but he also found fame as a composer and pianist. He was a fine musician.--kp

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JASCHA HORENSTEIN CONDUCTS SIBELIUS AND NIELSEN.

Although closely identified with the music of Mahler and Bruckner, Jascha Horenstein [1898-1973] was one of the most eclectic of conductors that I know. He had met Nielsen personally and championed a number of the Danish masters works. Less known is his admiration for the music of Jean Sibelius. Lets give a big welcome to the release of two live performances from 1970 recorded on consecutive days. Nielsens Third [Sinfonia espansiva] from Manchester Town Hall, 30th October and Sibelius Fifth from Sheffield City Hall, 31st Oct, 1970. The orchestra is the then BBC Northern Symphony Orchestra [now BBC Philharmonic]

This is an altogether splendid account of the Nielsen and compares very well with my recordings by Bernstein and Tuxen. Listening to the two Symphonies, something hit me. The very beginning of the Nielsen mirrors the conclusion of the Sibelius. The third of Nielsen opens with a series of powerful staccato chords and of course Sibelius 5 closes with those crushing hammar blows. In the second movement Nielsen introduces two solo voices [Tenor and Soprano] singing wordless phrases. The last movement opens with one of Nielsens most vibrant and opimistic melodies, its still buzzing in my head. I was surprised to learn from the sleeve note that Horenstein programmed Sibelius on at least ten occasions. These include a 1954 Vox recording of the Violin Concerto with Ivry Gitlis and the Vienna S. O. He conducted the Second Symphony in Paris with the ORTF [Nov, 1956] which was issued by music and arts in 2004. He also did No. 2 at least five more times from 1957-1968 with orchestra's in Venezuela, Uruguay, Barcelona and Bournmouth. He performed the first Symphony in Malmo in 1967 and also directed the Concerto in Sydney with Ruggiero Ricci. Paavo Berglund as confirmed that Horenstein was interested in other Sibelius works. All this is a big surprise to me.
This account of the Fifth is pretty darn good. Its quite good sonically with vivid and rich strings, powerfull brass and pungent woodwind. The huge first movement is fairly swift by current practice but I found it exhilarating. The BBC Northern brass are in fine form at the climax of the finale and the tumult of applause that erupted after the final hammar blow was richly deserved--kp

Nielsen 3 Sibelius 5 BBC Northern S. O. cond. Jascha Horenstein. BBC Legends BBCL 4249-2

For those interested (and I am, actually), it appears there is a CD out that has Toscanini in live performance conducting the FOURTH symphony, En saga, the Swan of Tuonela, and Lemm's Return.



I never knew he conducted the fourth; I knew he recorded the second, as well as some of the lighter fare everyone knows, but this was quite the surprise.

World Violist wrote:

For those interested (and I am, actually), it appears there is a CD out that has Toscanini in live performance conducting the FOURTH symphony, En saga, the Swan of Tuonela, and Lemm's Return. I never knew he conducted the fourth; I knew he recorded the second, as well as some of the lighter fare everyone knows, but this was quite the surprise.

Wow, I'll put out a feeler for that one! Thanks, World. Any other details?

(edit)
I

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, new and used copies are available dirt cheap -- there's gotta be something wrong with 'em.

(edit #2)
Some

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:

Quote:

"... this 1940 performance of the 4th Symphony penetrates to the very heart of this icy score." --Martin Bookspan in Prodigy "Here is one of the most revealing and commanding of 'unofficial' Toscanini releases. The prize of this CD is the conductor's only NBC presentation of the Fourth Symphony... Toscanini's performance is a model of taste... Specifically, his avoidance of excess--the sonority is lean and purged of ripeness, the emotional tone muted and made all the more potent by sharply etched textures--heightens the music's austere gloom, suggesting a kind of Scandinavian counterpart to the more southerly Mahlerian malaise that is so much a part of the earlier twentieth-century ethos. As an example of Toscanini's ability to grasp and sustain an implied mood, this performance is astonishing and adds considerably to what we know of this interpretive range. ... For those interested in either the conductor or composer, this CD is indispensable." --Mortimer H. Frank in Fanfare

That has got to be one of the most non sequitur album covers I have ever seen.