BaL 12.12.15 - Sibelius: Symphony no. 1 in E minor

[Eine Alpensinfonie]

0930
Building a Library: as part of Radio 3's Northern Lights Season Gillian Moore recommends a recorded version of Sibelius's 1st Symphony in E minor - possibly the most accessible of his 7 mighty symphonies - a piece that shows flashes of Tchaikovsky and Wagner - but it's also a symphony that displays the distinctive Sibelius voice.


Available versions:


Utah Symphony Orchestra, Maurice Abravanel

Philharmonia Orchestra, Vladimir Ashkenazy
Royal Stockholm Philharmonic Orchestra, Vladimir Ashkenazy

Hallé Orchestra, Sir John Barbirolli (1957)
Hallé Orchestra, John Barbirolli (1966)
New York Philharmonic Symphony Orchestra, Sir John Barbirolli

Bournemouth Symphony Orchestra, Paavo Berglund
Helsinki Philharmonic Orchestra, Paavo Berglund

New York Philharmonic, Leonard Bernstein
Wiener Philharmoniker, Leonard Bernstein (CD/DVD/Blu-ray)

San Francisco Symphony, Herbert Blomstedt

London Symphony Orchestra, Anthony Collins

Boston Symphony Orchestra, Colin Davis
London Symphony Orchestra, Sir Colin Davis
London Symphony Orchestra, Sir Colin Davis

Hallé Orchestra, Sir Mark Elder

Royal Philharmonic Orchestra, Alexander Gibson

New Zealand Symphony Orchestra, Pietari Inkinen

Symphonieorchester des Bayerischen Rundfunks, Mariss Jansons
Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra Amsterdam, Mariss Jansons
Oslo Philharmonic Orchestra, Mariss Jansons

Gothenburg Symphony Orchestra, Neeme Järvi

Orchestra of the Royal Philharmonic Society, Robert Kajanus

Helsinki Philharmonic Orchestra, Okko Kamu
Lahti Symphony Orchestra, Okko Kamu

Berliner Philharmoniker, Herbert von Karajan

Philharmonia Orchestra, Paul Kletzki

Slovak Philharmonic Orchestra, Adrian Leaper (download)

Atlanta Symphony Orchestra, Yoel Levi

Finnish Radio Symphony Orchestra, Hannu Lintu (DVD/Blu-ray)

Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra, Lorin Maazel
Wiener Philharmoniker, Lorin Maazel

Philadelphia Orchestra, Eugene Ormandy

Berliner Philharmoniker, Sir Simon Rattle (CD/Blu-ray)
City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra, Sir Simon Rattle

Iceland Symphony Orchestra, Petri Sakari

BBC Symphony Orchestra, Sir Malcolm Sargent

Helsinki Philharmonic Orchestra, Leif Segerstam

NHK Symphony Orchestra, Horst Stein

Helsinki City Symphony Orchestra, Leopold Stokowski

BBC Philharmonic, John Storgårds

Lahti Symphony Orchestra, Osmo Vänskä
Minnesota Orchestra, Osmo Vänskä

Adelaide Symphony Orchestra, Arvo Volmer


On vinyl:

London Symphony Orchestra, Anthony Collins

[pastoralguy]

Please, PLEASE, Alpine, add the Chandos recording with Sir Alexander Gibson and the (R)SNO. IIRC, they also recorded the first symphony for EMI in 1973.
Thanks.

[Hornspieler]

0930
Building a Library: as part of Radio 3's Northern Lights Season Gillian Moore recommends a recorded version of Sibelius's 1st Symphony in E minor - possibly the most accessible of his 7 mighty symphonies - a piece that shows flashes of Tchaikovsky and Wagner - but it's also a symphony that displays the distinctive Sibelius voice.


Available versions:


Utah Symphony Orchestra, Maurice Abravanel

Philharmonia Orchestra, Vladimir Ashkenazy
Royal Stockholm Philharmonic Orchestra, Vladimir Ashkenazy

Hallé Orchestra, Sir John Barbirolli (1957)
Hallé Orchestra, John Barbirolli (1966)
New York Philharmonic Symphony Orchestra, Sir John Barbirolli

Bournemouth Symphony Orchestra, Paavo Berglund
Helsinki Philharmonic Orchestra, Paavo Berglund

New York Philharmonic, Leonard Bernstein
Wiener Philharmoniker, Leonard Bernstein (CD/DVD/Blu-ray)

San Francisco Symphony, Herbert Blomstedt

London Symphony Orchestra, Anthony Collins

Boston Symphony Orchestra, Colin Davis
London Symphony Orchestra, Sir Colin Davis
London Symphony Orchestra, Sir Colin Davis

Hallé Orchestra, Sir Mark Elder

Royal Philharmonic Orchestra, Alexander Gibson

New Zealand Symphony Orchestra, Pietari Inkinen

Symphonieorchester des Bayerischen Rundfunks, Mariss Jansons
Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra Amsterdam, Mariss Jansons
Oslo Philharmonic Orchestra, Mariss Jansons

Gothenburg Symphony Orchestra, Neeme Järvi

Royal Philharmonic Orchestra, Robert Kajanus

Helsinki Philharmonic Orchestra, Okko Kamu
Lahti Symphony Orchestra, Okko Kamu

Berliner Philharmoniker, Herbert von Karajan

Philharmonia Orchestra, Paul Kletzki

Slovak Philharmonic Orchestra, Adrian Leaper (download)

Atlanta Symphony Orchestra, Yoel Levi

Finnish Radio Symphony Orchestra, Hannu Lintu (DVD/Blu-ray)

Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra, Lorin Maazel
Wiener Philharmoniker, Lorin Maazel

London Symphony Orchestra, Pierre Monteux

Philadelphia Orchestra, Eugene Ormandy

Berliner Philharmoniker, Sir Simon Rattle (CD/Blu-ray)
City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra, Sir Simon Rattle

Iceland Symphony Orchestra, Petri Sakari

BBC Symphony Orchestra, Sir Malcolm Sargent

Helsinki Philharmonic Orchestra, Leif Segerstam

NHK Symphony Orchestra, Horst Stein

Helsinki City Symphony Orchestra, Leopold Stokowski

BBC Philharmonic, John Storgårds

Lahti Symphony Orchestra, Osmo Vänskä
Minnesota Orchestra, Osmo Vänskä

Adelaide Symphony Orchestra, Arvo Volmer


On vinyl:

London Symphony Orchestra, Anthony Collins

Rather to my own surprise, I think that I would be inclined to nominate BBC Symphony Orchestra, Sir Malcolm Sargent

but Gibson and Berglund must be among the front runners.

HS

[Eine Alpensinfonie]

Please, PLEASE, Alpine, add the Chandos recording with Sir Alexander Gibson and the (R)SNO. IIRC, they also recorded the first symphony for EMI in 1973.
Thanks.

I did wonder about the SNO/Gibson. It was the first version I had on CD, and a cracking performance. But it doesn't seem to be available at present.

[Barbirollians]

Kletzki , Barbirolli and whisper it the EMI Karajan for me .

I suspect that generally excellent Sibelian Sir Colin Davis will win he usually does !

[Pabmusic]

The old Stereo Record Guide had its colours firmly fixed to Anthony Collins.

[Barbirollians]

Also where does the LSO Monteux come from ? I was aware of their recording of the second but can find no trace on Amazon and presto of a no 1

[richardfinegold]

Also where does the LSO Monteux come from ? I was aware of their recording of the second but can find no trace on Amazon and presto of a no 1

Yes, that was a surprise. The same with Ormandy and the Philadelphia. I had ordered a Japanese collection of what I thought was the complete Ormandy Sibelius recordings, and there is no First.

[cincinnatus]

Kletzki , Barbirolli and whisper it the EMI Karajan for me .

I suspect that generally excellent Sibelian Sir Colin Davis will win he usually does !

Spot on, Barbirollians. Davis and the Boston Symphony Orchestra on Philips were Stephen Johnson's choice when this was the subject back in Jan 2001. Sakari and the Iceland Symphony Orchestra on Naxos were the budget recommendation.

[Eine Alpensinfonie]

Yes, that was a surprise. The same with Ormandy and the Philadelphia. I had ordered a Japanese collection of what I thought was the complete Ormandy Sibelius recordings, and there is no First.

http://www.prestoclassical.co.uk/r/RCA/88875108582

[Eine Alpensinfonie]

Also where does the LSO Monteux come from ? I was aware of their recording of the second but can find no trace on Amazon and presto of a no 1

This may be a mistake on my part, but it does appear to be vaguely listed in the Decca Analogue Years box on the Presto site.

[ferneyhoughgeliebte]

This may be a mistake on my part, but it does appear to be vaguely listed in the Decca Analogue Years box on the Presto site.

It's also mentioned (as "unreleased") on the Pierre Monteux Discography site:

http://patachonf.free.fr/musique/monteux/discographie.php?p=s#s

(scroll down to about a third of the way down the page)

[Barbirollians]

Fascinating - but it appears that the Sibelius 1 in the Decca Analogue years is the Maazel

http://www.deccaclassics.com/gb/cat/4785437

[mikealdren]

Fascinating - but it appears that the Sibelius 1 in the Decca Analogue years is the Maazel

and very good it is too.

[Roehre]

and very good it is too.

with the Colin Davis/Boston my favourite