Originally posted by ferneyhoughgeliebte
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Laboured, my foot!!! Yes - it is the sheer tension that I hear... and you are right; the RCA version wasn't mentioned. It [RCA] is not a version I feel particularly drawn to - it nearly always seems to run as second-best to the Boston, or LSO Live... but what do I know? I particularly also enjoy Ashkenazy, Maazel and Sakari (Iceland) on Naxos, although SJ seemed to have doubts about the recording quality - sounds fine to me. I always find it amusing when a reviewer quibbles about recording quality, when maybe 10 seconds before, they raved about some 1930s or '40s recording that sounds like it was recorded in a public toilet in Lewisham! -
But some of my best evenings .... no, better not.Originally posted by visualnickmos View Post
I, too, have the Boston on Philips, and, as I usually find myself saying on a Sunday, I must dig it out and have another listen. Certainly several reviews I have seen like it better than the RCA LSO, but I think that was before the LSO Live came out.Comment
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Yes. There are still some who confuse speed with excitement - a fallacy, in my view.Originally posted by visualnickmos View PostComment
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Karajan seemed rather too easily dismissed in my view - though his EMI recording did not even get a mention . The live Barbirolli did but not the much loved studio recording.Comment
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I thought we were told that the EMI Philharmonia was the best of the Karajans?Originally posted by Barbirollians View PostI keep hitting the Escape key, but I'm still here!Comment
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I was referring to the late EMO BPO version.Comment
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Not an edition of BaL to have me wanting lots of new versions. Sno/Gibson will do fine. So another Lso Live disc is an ever so slightly unconvincing winner . . .Comment
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Indeed. (I will look out for the NAXOS Iceland version, though: I liked what I heard.)Originally posted by Alison View Post[FONT=Comic Sans MS][I][B]Numquam Satis![/B][/I][/FONT]Comment
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I do recommend the live Barbirolli on Testament especially as it comes coupled with the legendary RPO/Barbirolli 1962 Sibelius 2 previously on Chesky and which is indubitably one of the two best performances I have heard on record ( Kletzki being the other )Comment
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I have JB's Sibelius 2 as part of his complete symphonies etc on EMI which is one of my fav. performances of it. From what you say, this Testament performance is even more 'fiery' - just a small qestion or two; is the sound good, and is it mono? I'm almost assuming the answer is "yes", but this is not a negative for me - just want to know what I'm ordering! Once I check my bank balance!Originally posted by Barbirollians View Post
Thanks,
NickComment
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Both performances are in stereo . The Sibelius 2 is a bit quicker than the Halle performance .
The sound in the Sibelius 2 is very good indeed. The Sibelius 5 is a Proms recording but the sound is good and the audience pretty quiet .Comment
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Many thanks - sorry to be a pain with such simple questions! But I have quite a few random JB recordings on CD, and find something quite special in his conducting - it seems as if he puts his heart and soul into his work, and that dedication and concentration comes across - LOVE his Dvorak 3 last symphonies, for example.Comment
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Indeed he does - incapable of the routine .Originally posted by visualnickmos View Post
I should have said the audience are pretty quiet during the Sibelius 5 - not at the end !Comment
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It is a shame that BaL still restricts itself to one choice. For some time now the Gramophone Collection articles have concluded with three, often with evocative titles. For Sibelius 5th, a Collection style survey might lead to:
"The Classic Choice": Karajan/BPO (1965)
"The Romantic Choice": Barbirolli/Halle (Kingsway 1966, Special Commendation for Engineering to Neville Boyling)
"Wild Card": Rozhdestvensky/Moscow RSO (1973)
That would be my choice anyway...
Surprised at SJ's Davis selection, since the LSO Live Barbican sound is very dry & unatmospheric here, especially at lower levels; the 1994 RCA reading (Watford, Tony Faulkner) has obviously the best sound, smooth, dynamic, open and spacious with very fine horns; it does lack a little tension but can still satisfy. In Boston, the 1st movement is by far the slowest, the finale the quickest: this seems to be reflected in a performance of far-sighted, mounting tension. That doyen of Sibelians, Robert Layton, had initial reservations but came to admire its "wild grandeur", and placed it in his top three in the mid-70s.
Again the sound is a little dry for such a fine acoustic, but the Pentatone disc, the only one I've heard, is very fine indeed on CD.
As Alison implied, if you're happy with what you have, there's no need to buy the shop; if you're in the mood to splash out, then be adventurous! The 2 Celis must be fascinating, not to mention Vanska's three (including the original) and the oft-overlooked Kurt Sanderling. In Japan, Akeo Watanabe is a Sibelian of towering proportions, and any of his performances are worth hunting down...Comment
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Has anyone acquired the LPO version conducted by Jukka-Pekka Saraste ?
The extracts played seemed a shade disappointing compared to the reviews seen.
Well disposed to the orchestra and label as I am, perhaps this is not after all an essential purchase.Comment
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