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

[jayne lee wilson]

Have you heard the Minnesota/Vanska, Cal?
C/w No.4, I recall HD's impassioned enthusiasm for that....

Little less icy perhaps, but a real stunner! But I'm devoted to Vanska's Sibelius anyway....and Berglund too, COE or Bournemouth (the Toshiba remasters, still around here and there on Warners, were marvellous) but not the Helsinki cycle....

Don't forget Kurt Sanderling - his Berlin SO 1st is one of the very best....! (Berlin Classics, KingRecord Japan etc)

Bernstein? I couldn't possibly comment......

[richardfinegold]

I learned the piece from Colin Davis and Boston in the seventies, still a good account but one that has been superseded a few times in my own collection. The Vanska is ok, most treasurable as a high res download, but Bergland/Bournemouth and Ormandy in Philly (natch) are where I turn now. Haven’t heard Rouvali or YNS.

[cloughie]

I learned the piece from Colin Davis and Boston in the seventies, still a good account but one that has been superseded a few times in my own collection. The Vanska is ok, most treasurable as a high res download, but Bergland/Bournemouth and Ormandy in Philly (natch) are where I turn now. Haven’t heard Rouvali or YNS.

Colin Davis superseded it with the LSO twice on RCA and LSOLive. Going back in time are great recordings by Collins and Kajanus, but the VPO Maazel from the 60s still sounds excellent!

[mikealdren]

Colin Davis superseded it with the LSO twice on RCA and LSOLive. Going back in time are great recordings by Collins and Kajanus, but the VPO Maazel from the 60s still sounds excellent!

I have the Davis RCA set and generally find them disappointing. The Maazel 1st however was the recording from which I learned the piece, and yes, it still sounds very good.

As an aside, I recently played the 1st violin part in Sibelius 7 for the first time in years and listened to the Davis version in preparation - rather dull. I then listened to my old LP of Collins, it was a revelation, beautifully paced and played.

[richardfinegold]

I have the Davis RCA set and generally find them disappointing. The Maazel 1st however was the recording from which I learned the piece, and yes, it still sounds very good.

As an aside, I recently played the 1st violin part in Sibelius 7 for the first time in years and listened to the Davis version in preparation - rather dull. I then listened to my old LP of Collins, it was a revelation, beautifully paced and played.

I had bought one disc from the Davis RCA set, cannot remember which one, and found it very dull. I remember reading at the time
that the set sold only 700 copies at the time worldwide, and RCA was dropping Classical Artists from their label. I bought the Davis/LSO 5th because it was in Multichannel, another disappointment.

[Barbirollians]

I remember Robert Layton was very positive about that RCA set . I have them and enjoyed them at the time but have to admit not playing them very often.

There is a Kletzki Milestones of a Legend set just out - no idea of the quality of the transfers- but the Sibelius 1 and 3 are in that together with his sensational recording of the Second last seen on an EMI Profile set in the early 1990s .