Your First Sibelius record

[jayne lee wilson]

These threads are always tricky, as "my first" LP of whatever were usually borrowed ones - it took far too long to save up for an LP! I THINK it was Maazel in No.4, and Szell, urgent in No.2 with the RCOA...

I always made a point of listening to broadcasts, but only in Spring 2000, when I bought the Royal Classics set of the Symphonies with Berglund in Bournemouth, and Sanderling's Berlin SO set at the same time, did I really understand how great and important Sibelius was.

[richardfinegold]

not sure, I think it was Zino Francescatti and Bernstein in the Violin Concerto, which was paired with the Bruch Concerto (Schippers Conducting).
Next was Symphony#1 Colin Davis/Boston.

[Don Petter]

Collins / Sibelius 2 / Ace of Clubs.

Collins/Sibelius 2 on the original LXT! Plus Symphonies 4 and 5 on Philips ABL with Philadelphia/Ormandy. Both given to me by a friend to encourage my burgeoning classical interests.

[Pulcinella]

Decca Eclipse: Symphony 5, Finlandia, and Karelia Suite
or
Decca Ace of Diamonds: Symphony 2 (LSO/Monteux: still a great favourite)

[umslopogaas]

Oh dear, where does fifty years go? I think it was that MFP (CFP?) LP of symphony no. 2, probably conducted by Sargent. Of course it had snow covered pine trees on the cover, that was how you knew it was Sibelius.

[alycidon]

Well, Finlandia, inevitably, followed not long after by the outer Karelia movements on a little seven-inch record. Oddly, I didn't get into the symphonies until I was well into my fifties!

[BeethovensQuill]

It was Rattle CBSO Symphony 5 from WH Smith in 1998 at the age of 22, the day after i went back and bought Rattle's account of the 1st along with Mutter's account of the Violin Concerto.


Currently loving the Berglund Bornemouth set.

[gurnemanz]

It was Rattle CBSO Symphony 5 from WH Smith in 1998 at the age of 22, the day after i went back and bought Rattle's account of the 1st along with Mutter's account of the Violin Concerto.


Currently loving the Berglund Bornemouth set.

Having previously bought Gramophone at a newsagent, I subscribed to the magazine early nineties and got the Rattle/CBSO Sibelius box as a "free gift".

[Keraulophone]

Alexander Gibson / SNO 5th plus En Saga on a 1975 CfP LP (produced by the prolific John Boyden)... rapidly followed by a 2-LP World Records reissue of vintage Kajanus, Schneevoight and Koussevitzky doing 3,5,6 & 7. That 7th with SK inspiring the BBC SO is still hair-raising.

[LeMartinPecheur]

Halle/Barbirolli LP, mono deletion, WHS sale c1970, fondly remembered though long binned. Bought a s/h stereo LP copy a few years ago, then quite quickly went for the CD box set. Didn't know any of the other recordings except the misc tone poems inc. Karelia Suite. I do now though!

[EdgeleyRob]

Well, Finlandia, inevitably, followed not long after by the outer Karelia movements on a little seven-inch record. Oddly, I didn't get into the symphonies until I was well into my fifties!

Well there's hope for me yet.
I bought the Ashkenazy complete set on LP many years ago and was not blown away.
I now have the same set on CD,I do keep trying.

[slarty]

Sibelius 3 & 7 with Alexander Gibson and the SNO on the Waverley label. It was released in 1965.
great!

[Tony Halstead]

Sibelius 3 & 7 with Alexander Gibson and the SNO on the Waverley label. It was released in 1965.
great!

My first Sibelius record too!
When I bought it it was on a 'Saga' LP.
Wonderful interpretations by Gibson, and great playing by the then SNO, plus a fabulous 'hall sound.'
Could that superb acoustic have been the much-lamented Glasgow St Andrews hall, sadly destroyed by fire in the 1960s? Or maybe the Dundee Caird Hall? Or the Usher Hall, Edinburgh?
What a shame that the later Sibelius/Gibson/ SNO Chandos recordings were in the rather claustrophobic 'SNO Centre', where, despite the Chandos engineers' best efforts, you can still 'hear the walls'.

[slarty]

My first Sibelius record too!
When I bought it it was on a 'Saga' LP.
Wonderful interpretations by Gibson, and great playing by the then SNO, plus a fabulous 'hall sound.'
Could that superb acoustic have been the much-lamented Glasgow St Andrews hall, sadly destroyed by fire in the 1960s? Or maybe the Dundee Caird Hall? Or the Usher Hall, Edinburgh?
What a shame that the later Sibelius/Gibson/ SNO Chandos recordings were in the rather claustrophobic 'SNO Centre', where, despite the Chandos engineers' best efforts, you can still 'hear the walls'.

I totally agree Tony, I doubt that it was recorded in the Caird Hall, I would have known about it from my friends in the SNO, as I lived in Dundee then. I suspect it was the Usher Hall in Edinburgh, from the sound. Gibson never surpassed his own interpretations of these symphonies and it is a pity that the recordings have never since seen the light of day on a CD. It would make a wonderful re-issue.

PS I think the clue is the original Record label itself "Waverley". It was an Edinburgh based company and they most probably made the recordings in the city. What a lovely hall(usher) I always enjoyed playing there.

[umslopogaas]

The violin concerto, played by David Oistrakh with the Moscow Radio Symphony Orchestra conducted by Rozhdestvensky. ASD 2407, issued I think in 1966, though the concerto was recorded in 1965. I've still got it. I was going to buy a different version, but a violin-playing friend had heard Oistrakh was going to record it and persuaded me to wait for his performance. Its wonderful, though as I recall the soloist/orchestra balance is a bit odd.