BaL 4.04.15 - Sibelius: Symphony no. 4 in A minor

[Eine Alpensinfonie]

9.30 am
Building a Library
David Nice explores the available recordings of Sibelius's 4th Symphony and makes a personal recommendation.

This magnificent symphony shows evidence of struggle or despair and many people hear a chilling bleakness in the work. While others see the influence of Sigmund Freud and the unconscious. In fact Sibelius himself called his composition "a psychological symphony". He also said "It stands as a protest against present-day music. It has absolutely nothing of the circus about it."


Available versions:-

Utah Symphony Orchestra, Maurice Abravanel
L'Orchestre de la Suisse Romande, Ernest Ansermet
Philharmonia Orchestra, Vladimir Ashkenazy
Royal Stockholm Philharmonic Orchestra, Vladimir Ashkenazy
Hallé Orchestra, Sir John Barbirolli
BBC Symphony Orchestra, Sir Thomas Beecham
London Philharmonic Orchestra, Thomas Beecham
Bournemouth Symphony Orchestra, Paavo Berglund
Concertgebouw Orchestra, Paavo Berglund
Helsinki Philharmonic Orchestra, Paavo Berglund
San Francisco Symphony, Herbert Blomstedt (download)
London Symphony Orchestra, Anthony Collins
Boston Symphony Orchestra, Colin Davis
London Symphony Orchestra, Sir Colin Davis (2 versions)
Scottish National Orchestra, Alexander Gibson (download)
New Zealand Symphony Orchestra, Pietari Inkinen
Gothenburg Symphony Orchestra, Neeme Järvi
Berliner Philharmoniker, Herbert von Karajan (2 versions)
Philharmonia Orchestra, Herbert von Karajan
Slovak Philharmonic Orchestra, Adrian Leaper (download)
Berliner Philharmoniker, James Levine (download)
Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra, Lorin Maazel
Wiener Philharmoniker, Lorin Maazel
Uppsala Kammarorkester, Paul Mägi
London Symphony Orchestra, Pierre Monteux
City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra, Sakari Oramo
Philadelphia Orchestra, Eugene Ormandy
City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra, Sir Simon Rattle
Iceland Symphony Orchestra, Petri Sakari
Berlin Symphony Orchestra, Kurt Sanderling
BBC Symphony Orchestra, Sir Malcolm Sargent
Helsinki Philharmonic Orchestra, Leif Segerstam
BBC Philharmonic, John Storgårds
The Philadelphia Orchestra, Leopold Stokowski
Boston Symphony Orchestra, Michael Tilson Thomas (DVD)
NBC Symphony Orchestra, Arturo Toscanini
NBC Symphony Orchestra, Arturo Toscanini (live 1940)
Lahti Symphony Orchestra, Osmo Vänskä
Minnesota Orchestra, Osmo Vänskä
Adelaide Symphony Orchestra, Arvo Volmer

[Don Petter]

The Ormandy is available as a CD from Pristine Classical (c/w 5th Symphony) - Not sure what the listing rules are.

[Eine Alpensinfonie]

Not sure what the listing rules are.

The same as Mornington Crescent.

List duly amended.

[ferneyhoughgeliebte]

The same as Mornington Crescent.

Which set of Rules?

[Don Petter]

The same as Mornington Crescent.

List duly amended.

Ah! Wasn't sure if we played 'diagonals allowed'. Thanks.

[DoctorT]

It took me a long time to 'get' this symphony, since it never seemed as accessible as the other 6. The performance which eventually gripped me was Vanska's with the Lahti orchestra. Interested to hear if DN shortlists it.

[Eine Alpensinfonie]

Which set of Rules?

I only know the 1936 (revised) ones.

[HighlandDougie]

It took me a long time to 'get' this symphony, since it never seemed as accessible as the other 6. The performance which eventually gripped me was Vanska's with the Lahti orchestra. Interested to hear if DN shortlists it.

That was the BaL choice the last time. None finer, until Osmo re-recorded it with the Minnesota Orchestra. In my wholly unhumble view, the best performance of this work I'm ever likely to hear (and I seem to have no fewer than 17 of the recordings on Alpie's list).

[Roehre]

For me the symphony of Sibelius' by some margin.
Love the Maazel/VPO through which I learned the piece, and the Vanska's are my favourites.

[Eine Alpensinfonie]

The versions I have are the VPO/Maazel and Halle/Barbirolli. However, I did once hear Philharmonia/Ashkenazy and it blew my mind.

[Nick Armstrong]

I did once hear Philharmonia/Ashkenazy and it blew my mind.

Osmo re-recorded it with the Minnesota Orchestra. In my wholly unhumble view, the best performance of this work I'm ever likely to hear (and I seem to have no fewer than 17 of the recordings on Alpie's list).

I have 11 of them, I think - not including the Minnesota one, so will be interested to hear how that fares in the analysis. I've been investing heavily in Sibelius sets lately (though not as heavily as the Beefy! one ) - Storgards, Berglund/Bournemouth, Blomstedt... - and it has to stop !

I have a sneaking affection for the Berlin/Levine disc (coupled with No 5).

Like DoctorT, this was the last of the Sibelius symphonies to dawn on me. But what a piece

[Beef Oven!]

Nicely timed Bal for me, as Caliban says, some of us have been 'topping-up' our Sibelius recordings of late.

I now have 16 off Alpensinfonie's list - once again, thanks very much for putting together the list for our perusal, recreation and enjoyment

Vanska's Minnesota re-do of 1 & 4 is on my hit-list for next month, as is the Jayne-recommended Berglund COE cycle.

I also have Bernstein's NYP 4 on Sony which I'm not sure is on Alpensinfonie's list.

I've played so much Sibelius this month that I don't have any idea of a pecking order. I need to let it all settle. But I will say that Lorin Maazel's vintage VPO cycle on Decca has blown me away. Trying to work out why I didn't give it much attention over the years, I've come up with the possible explanation that I had relied pretty much on Ashkenazy's Philharmonia Decca set as my go-to Sibelius from about the late 1980s onwards, when I was building my classical library.

Didn't Herbert von Karajan programme Sibelius 4 on his inaugural concert with the BPO in the 1950s?

EDIT: People have nodded in the direction of the order that they 'arrived' at Sibelius' symphonies; for me it was 2, 5, 7, 1, 3, 6, 4. Or put another way:

2
5
7
1
3
6
4

[seabright]

There are two Stokowski / Philadelphia recordings: the World Premiere set from RCA Victor 78s (rec. 1932) is on Naxos 8.111399 coupled with No. 6 (Schneevoigt / Finnish National Orchestra) and No. 7 (Koussevitzky / BBC Symphony); and a stereo broadcast from 1962 of a complete Philadelphia concert, with works by Webern, Debussy and Mussorgsky, is on Pristine Audio PASC 372.

[ferneyhoughgeliebte]

I first heard this work in the Summer of 1976 prior to an "A"-level study weekend at Leeds University. The only recording I could lay hands on then was Beecham/LPO on a World Records LP: cold, bleak and defiant. Still a performance unparalleled, with Karajan on DG providing a warmer despair and dignity. Maazel on Decca, Barbirolli, Davis (all three of 'em, but particularly for me the Boston recording), Bernstein (NYPO) and Vanska are all superb, too.

Do I need another version? Oh! Question not the need!

[Eine Alpensinfonie]

N


EDIT: People have nodded in the direction of the order that they 'arrived' at Sibelius' symphonies; for me it was 2, 5, 7, 1, 3, 6, 4.

For me it was 1, 2, 5, 3, 7, 6, 4.