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

[verismissimo]

My money's on Vanska/Lahti. Such exciting playing.

[pastoralguy]

Has she mentioned new Rattle Berlin Phil. recording yet?

[Beef Oven!]

Cajans, Barbiroll's NYP & Lenny sounded marvellous - but for some reason the Karajan has totally capture my imagination and I'll be spinning it as soon as this programme finishes!

[Beef Oven!]

Storgards on Chandos complete set on Amazon for under £21 incl. p&p looks good value.

[mikealdren]

Interesting choice spoilt by a very soggy ending!

[Beef Oven!]

Has she mentioned new Rattle Berlin Phil. recording yet?

'She' didn't, but it's been confirmed that Rattle's BPO arrived too late for consideration.

[Alison]

Storgards on Chandos complete set on Amazon for under £21 incl. p&p looks good value.

I've found it a very satisfying little box.

[Alison]

My money's on Vanska/Lahti. Such exciting playing.

Vanska seemed long odds on to win.

Not saying he's wrong but I didn't warm to his approach at all.

[Bryn]

The taint of nepotism continues. Again, the Storgards are Radio 3 recordings.

Oh, and QOBUZ has lossless downloads available for €17.99 (around £13.00). With the booklet available free in pdf format from the Chandos site, that's quite a decent deal.

[Nimrod]

It was nice to hear Barbirolli's NYPO performance recommended in the programme; it certainly is an exciting performance. I see that the script on the Radio 3 website has not mentioned it as a 'historical' choice so if you're interested it's from the Barbirolli Society:-

The Columbia Masters – Volume 1
Rimsky-Korsakov Capriccio Espagnol
Tchaikovsky Suite No.3 – Theme & Variations
Sibelius Symphony No.1
New York Philharmonic Orchestra/John Barbirolli [Recorded 1940-2]
SJB 1025

Not sure I liked the way John Storgårds ended the symphony, it sounded a bit heavy footed to me. Otherwise I thought it was a fairly well balanced review except, am I imagining it? Did I fail to hear Ashkenazy mentioned??!

[visualnickmos]

It was nice to hear Barbirolli's NYPO performance.....

Yes - it sounded thrilling. Wouldn't be wonderful if one day an invention will appear that restores to perfection, even aged recordings!

Not sure I liked the way John Storgårds ended the symphony, it sounded a bit heavy footed to me. Otherwise I thought it was a fairly well balanced review except, am I imagining it? Did I fail to hear Ashkenazy mentioned??!

I must say that extracts of Storgårds didn't quite do it for me (few though they, so judgement is limited) The start of the 3rd mvt sounded - well - dare I say, a little sluggish, and the drumbeats a bit 'off' - but what do I know, I have to rely only on my ears, not an encyclopaedic knowledge of music!

And you are right - Ashkenazy not mentioned, but then she did apologise for not mentioning everyone's favourites. We'd still be here well into the second half of the gin bottle, if she did!

[BBMmk2]

A very good BaL. Am I right, she wasn't keen on the Berglund? Which I found rather strange? I Like Jon Storgards, which I have the complete set.

[Beef Oven!]

was nice to hear Barbirolli's NYPO performance recommended in the programme; it certainly is an exciting performance. I see that the script on the Radio 3 website has not mentioned it as a 'historical' choice so if you're interested it's from the Barbirolli Society......

Not sure I liked the way John Storgårds ended the symphony, it sounded a bit heavy footed to me.

Didn't work for me, either.

Otherwise I thought it was a fairly well balanced review.......

except, am I imagining it? Did I fail to hear Ashkenazy mentioned??!

Indeed...

[Beef Oven!]

The taint of nepotism continues. Again, the Storgards are Radio 3 recordings.

Oh, and QOBUZ has lossless downloads available for €17.99 (around £13.00). With the booklet available free in pdf format from the Chandos site, that's quite a decent deal.

A very decent deal, especially considering that purchasing a CD of Sibelius 1 with a coupling of some description in 1990 would have cost £13 (using the a prices and inflation calculator, today's value is nearly £29). Can you imagine getting Storgard's complete cycle back in 1990 for the then equivalent of £4.35!!

We've never had it so good!!!

[Lento]

riveting

Hear, hear. The extract used to demonstrate Wagner's influence (forest murmurs) always makes me think of a Tchaikovsky ballet. The extract actually played to demonstrate Tchaikovsky's influence still had a very Sibelian feel, to my ears. Interesting programme.