Favourite Sibelius cycle

[verismissimo]

Is that a cloo, Maurice?

I thought for a moment that it was the wonderful Vlado Perlemuter. But no, Maurice is more like it.

[BBMmk2]

Remembered in my #65 above, just after 2 this afternoon!

|I did post something similar, as I remember Cali mentioning them and Ihave recently bought this cycle. Was wondering about what Forum members opinion?

[Beef Oven!]

|I have recently bought this cycle. Was wondering about what Forum members opinion?

I prefer this cycle..............

[BBMmk2]

I prefer this cycle..............

Not Sibelius though! :)

[Beef Oven!]

Not Sibelius though! :)

No, not Sibelius, it's MrGG's favourite composer - the creator of TDOG.

[Barbirollians]

Sibelius symphony cycles

I wondered what are forumites favourite Sibelius symphony cycles?

In my impecunious youth I collected individual records - Barbirolli’s EMI No1 ( on a noisy EMI Eminence cassette) much better on CD, Davis’s Boston No 2 which has never done much for me , Rattle’s 3 and 7, HVK’s EMI 4 and 5 which I thought were pretty dynamite , Rattle’s 5 with the Kennedy VC ( which I also liked ) Karajan’s EMI 6 which I understand was highly rated but found impenetrable and Ashkenazy’s coupling of the Seventh and Tapiola which I consider one of his finest records.

Other recordings have displaced many of these in my affections the Reader’s Digest Barbirolli 2 , Colin Davis’s RCA Third for example but as a cycle I have recently been listening to Rattle’s CBSO set which is now available very cheaply and have been very impressed by the First and Second which strike me as very serious and thoughtful accounts and it has been good to reacquaint myself with his Third. I prefer it to my other complete cycles with Davis,Ashkenazy,Gibson and Berglund(BSO).

What is your favourite Sibelius cycle ?

[DracoM]

Lahti SO / Vanska.

[Ein Heldenleben]

I only have the Rattle complete cycle. I made the mistake of being put off it by some lukewarm reviews but a few months ago I sat down and listened to the entire cycle and found myself relistening day after day.

[richardfinegold]

I only have the Rattle complete cycle. I made the mistake of being put off it by some lukewarm reviews but a few months ago I sat down and listened to the entire cycle and found myself relistening day after day.

I’ve got several cycles, but there isn’t a single Conductor who nails all seven. The biggest disappointment was Bernstein; after his sizzling account of the VC with Francescatti I had high hopes, but Sibelius isn’t Mahler and Lenny didn’t get the memo. So here goes

1-Ashkenazy/Philharmonia
2-Monteux/LSO
3-Saaraste/Helsinki
4-Karajan/BPO
5-Davis/Boston
6- Vanska either Lahti or MN
7. Bergland/Bournemouth
Tapiola Karajan Berlin

[gurnemanz]

I only have the Rattle complete cycle. I made the mistake of being put off it by some lukewarm reviews but a few months ago I sat down and listened to the entire cycle and found myself relistening day after day.

In the early 90s when the Rattle set came out Gramophone magazine brought out an offer: Subscribe to the mag and get the symphony set free. I was buying Gramophone anyway and had not yet got any Sibelius symphonies on CD, so I went for it. I got a lot out of the recordings and it remained my only set for many years until quite recently when I acquired Osmo Vänskä/Lahti SO as part of the BIS Essential Sibelius box.

[cloughie]

I grew up with the Collins on Ace of Clubs, though 5 was issued quite late on compared to the others WRC supplied Hannikainen’s 5 c/w Karelia Suite and his No2! Barbirolli and Maazel followed on both differently but well, and going historical I enjoyed Kajanus in 1 2 3 and 5, Beecham in 4 and Koussevitzky in 7.

[mikealdren]

I started with Collins too and, later, the Maazel VPO. The Collins sounds rather dated now but I listened to no 7 recently and it's a marvellous performance. The Maazel still sounds remarkably good and Nos 1 and 4 are particularly special.

[jayne lee wilson]

Busy today, may elaborate later, but I rarely look beyond Berglund, Vanska or Sanderling now.... Rouvali is more than promising as a new cycle, stunning 1st, haven't heard 2 yet....

I would just promote COE/Berglund once more, much ignored, not perfect but which is? Even with Vanska I switch between Lahti and Minneapolis (Gun-to-the-head? Lahti, I guess...but I wouldn't like to choose).

Given the wonders of that COE set, I wish Dausgaard would take it up with the Swedish Chamber Orchestra - augmented for the larger-scale perhaps, or switching between them and Bergen......
Bergund's 3, 4 and 6 sound especially well with the smaller group.... though his earlier 3rds may be a little better, or at least more straightforward, interpretively. The COE 3rd is quite unusual in that respect, finale particularly. Tricky work to get right though. As is the 5th - all those subtle choices of rhythm, tempi, dynamics...power-in-reserve, longterm view, is a key calculation....often the less a conductor does, the better...

Yes, there's room for the Romantic/Rhetorical in 1 and 2, perhaps elsewhere, but I always preferred a no-circuses/pure-spring-water approach and sound, to apply Sibelius' specific comments more generally.

[silvestrione]

Storgards with the BBC Phil starts with a stunning no. 1....but I haven't got round yet to listening to much of the rest!

I don't have any other complete cycles, but like what I have of Davis in Boston and Vanska withe the Lahti.

Karajan EMI for En Saga, DG late for Tapiola.

[mathias broucek]

Another vote for Vanska (either or both). Segerstam in Helsinki on Ondine is also truly outstanding with the best 4th I’ve ever heard (although Sanderling is close). Not massively easy to find in physical format but downloads of the individual discs are half price on the Chandos website. (Everyone seems to think Segerstam’s earlier cycle on Chandos/Brilliant isn’t much cop but I’ve never heard it.)