BaL 28.01.17 - Sibelius: Tapiola Op. 112

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  • mikealdren
    Full Member
    • Nov 2010
    • 1201

    Originally posted by richardfinegold View Post

    The En Saga imprinted me-I still haven’t heard another that gets my pulse up as much when the coda arrives.
    Interesting, Beecham's En Saga 'imprinted me' in a way that few other performances/works have. There is something amazing about his tempi.

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    • smittims
      Full Member
      • Aug 2022
      • 4192

      Yes, I prefer Beecham in both 'En Saga ' and 'Tapiola' . He confounds the popular image of him as being at home only in charming tuneful works. Other fine EnSagas are Okko Kamu (if you can find it; it ws originally coupled with the third symphony) and Dorati, oddly emerging as a fine Sibelius interpreter for just one disc in the late '60s (EMI). I'm sorry Robert Kajanus didn't record 'EnSaga'. He might have been the best.

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      • Barbirollians
        Full Member
        • Nov 2010
        • 11709

        Kamu is on that Splendurs du Nord compilation on DG - secondhand copies were still knocking about recently with his excellent Four Legends too.

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        • Barbirollians
          Full Member
          • Nov 2010
          • 11709

          Raymond Holden's book also suggests Barbirolli did not conduct En Saga either - the Second Symphony however he conducted 173 times !

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          • Master Jacques
            Full Member
            • Feb 2012
            • 1888

            Shamefully, I'd never heard Beecham's Tapiola, so followed up the positive comments here by sourcing a cheap, second-hand EMI CD. I've enjoyed it's vivid sense of drama and warmth; though when push comes to shove I prefer my Tapiola (like my sherry) fino, not oloroso. Though Beecham hasn't pushed Maazel or Vänskä off the top of my pine tree this Christmas, I'll certainly be keeping it - not least for the utterly magical reading of the Pelléas et Mélisande suite which opens this well-packed CD.

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            • HighlandDougie
              Full Member
              • Nov 2010
              • 3093

              Originally posted by smittims View Post
              Yes, I prefer Beecham in both 'En Saga ' and 'Tapiola' . He confounds the popular image of him as being at home only in charming tuneful works. Other fine EnSagas are Okko Kamu (if you can find it; it ws originally coupled with the third symphony) and Dorati, oddly emerging as a fine Sibelius interpreter for just one disc in the late '60s (EMI). I'm sorry Robert Kajanus didn't record 'EnSaga'. He might have been the best.
              Although the combination might have seemed at the time (early 1970s) slightly odd for recordings of Sibelius, the Horst Stein/Orchestre de la Suisse Romande series of them includes, inter alia, a rather fine En Saga. Stein was later their Principal Conductor from 1980 - 85.

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              • Maclintick
                Full Member
                • Jan 2012
                • 1076

                Originally posted by smittims View Post
                Other fine EnSagas are Okko Kamu (if you can find it; it ws originally coupled with the third symphony) and Dorati, oddly emerging as a fine Sibelius interpreter for just one disc in the late '60s (EMI). I'm sorry Robert Kajanus didn't record 'EnSaga'. He might have been the best.
                ASD2486. Still sounding terrific 53 years later -- features a spine-tingling Luonnotar from Dame Gwyneth Jones



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                • smittims
                  Full Member
                  • Aug 2022
                  • 4192

                  I still have my copy! Thanks for the picture - very 1970 psychedelic. Another good one was the Leinsdorf Mahler 1 on Phase 4 with the girl in long white nightie and a horse.

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                  • Barbirollians
                    Full Member
                    • Nov 2010
                    • 11709

                    Originally posted by Master Jacques View Post
                    Shamefully, I'd never heard Beecham's Tapiola, so followed up the positive comments here by sourcing a cheap, second-hand EMI CD. I've enjoyed it's vivid sense of drama and warmth; though when push comes to shove I prefer my Tapiola (like my sherry) fino, not oloroso. Though Beecham hasn't pushed Maazel or Vänskä off the top of my pine tree this Christmas, I'll certainly be keeping it - not least for the utterly magical reading of the Pelléas et Mélisande suite which opens this well-packed CD.

                    I had this on an HMV Concert Classics LP- I remember ordering it in my late teens from the local WH Smith. The Pelleas suite is outstanding as is his Tapiola and the Oceanides.

                    Comment

                    • Master Jacques
                      Full Member
                      • Feb 2012
                      • 1888

                      Originally posted by Barbirollians View Post
                      I had this on an HMV Concert Classics LP- I remember ordering it in my late teens from the local WH Smith. The Pelleas suite is outstanding as is his Tapiola and the Oceanides.
                      I agree with you about the quality of Beecham's Oceanides also. For some reason, this beautiful - and very unusual - piece tends to be "in one ear and out the other" with me, much though I admire it, and I often forget to mention it!

                      Osmo Vänskä's "variorum" Lahti disc (entitled Rondo of the Waves) on BIS CD-1445 has three versions of the work to savour, and is pretty much a must-have for hard-core Sibelians.

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                      • smittims
                        Full Member
                        • Aug 2022
                        • 4192

                        I think Berglund's Bournemouth Oceanides is one of the best, certainly a performance to convince a doubter. And I was pleasantly surprised to find how good Karajan's 1983 Pelleas suite is. Yes, Beecham is still the classic for both these works , but one shouldn't hear just one recording repeatedly.

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                        • gurnemanz
                          Full Member
                          • Nov 2010
                          • 7391

                          Just briefly to ride this Oceanides tangent. I had been buying Gramophone since the the early 70s and when in the 80s they offered the Rattle/CBSO Sibelius Symphonies as an enticement to take out a subscription, I took their bait. It was via this set that I first heard and enjoyed Oceanides. I have read that it is one of Rattle's own favourites among his own recordings.

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                          • cloughie
                            Full Member
                            • Dec 2011
                            • 22128

                            Originally posted by Barbirollians View Post


                            I had this on an HMV Concert Classics LP- I remember ordering it in my late teens from the local WH Smith. The Pelleas suite is outstanding as is his Tapiola and the Oceanides.
                            The CD adds the 7th to these making an excellent stereo showcase of Beecham's Sibelius, though his sparkling best for me was the Leminkainen’s (rapid) Return recorded back in the 30s.

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