BaL 5.01.13 - Sibelius: Symphony no. 2 in D

[Eine Alpensinfonie]

9.30am Building a Library
Erica Jeal with a personal recommendation from recordings of Sibelius's 2nd Symphony

Available versions:

Utah Symphony Orchestra, Maurice Abravanel
Gurzenich-Orchester Koln, Yuri Ahronovitch
L’Orchestre de la Suisse Romande, Ernest Ansermet
Philharmonia Orchestra, Vladimir Ashkenazy
Royal Stockholm Philharmonic Orchestra, Vladimir Ashkenazy
Halle Orchestra, Sir John Barbirolli (2 versions)
NYPO, Sir John Barbirolli
RPO, Sir John Barbirolli
RPO, Sir Thomas Beecham
Bournemouth SO, Paavo Berglund
Helsinki PO, Paavo Berglund
PO, Paavo Berglund
VPO, Leonard Bernstein
VPO, Leonard Bernstein – DVD
RPO, William Boughton
LPO, Basil Cameron
LSO, Anthony Collins
Boston Symphony Orchestra, Sir Colin Davis
LSO, Sir Colin Davis
Staatskapelle Dresden, Sir Colin Davis
Oregon Symphony Orchestra, James DePreist
Gothenburg SO , Gustavo Dudamel
RPO, Alexander Gibson
SNO, Alexander Gibson (download)
National Radio Orchestra, Jasha Horenstein
Oslo PO, Mariss Jansons
Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra, Mariss Jansons
Gotesborgs Symfoniker, Neeme Jarvi
Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra, Paavo Jarvi
RPO, Robert Kajanus
BPO, Okku Kamu
Philharmonia Orchestra, Herbert von Karajan
Boston Symphony Orchestra, Serge Koussevitsky
Slovak Symphony Orchestra, Adrian Leaper (download)
Cleveland Orchestra, Yoel Levi
Pittsburgh SO, Lorin Maazel
VPO, Lorin Maazel
RPO, Sir Charles Mackerras
LSO, Pierre Monteux
CBSO, Sakari Oramo
CBSO, Sir Simon Rattle
Moscow Radio Symphony Orchestra, Gennady Rozhdestvensky
Iceland Symphony Orchestra, Petri Sakari
Berlin Symphony Orchestra, Kurt Sanderling
Finnish Radio Symphony Orchestra, Jukka-Pekka Saraste
Helsinki Philharmonic Orchestra, Leif Segerstam
Cleveland Orchestra, George Szell
Yuri Tenirkanov
NBC SO, Arturo Toscanini (download)
Lahti Symphony Orchestra, Osmo Vanska
Minnesota Orchestra, Osmo Vanska
Adelaide Symphony Orchestra, Arvo Volmer



Henri Sigfridsson (transcribed for solo piano)

[EnemyoftheStoat]

Royal Concertgebouw, Mariss Jansons

[Eine Alpensinfonie]

Thanks. Duly added.

[Il Grande Inquisitor]

If anything's going to tempt King Christian II (John J Davis) back it'll be this...

Along with Berglund's Helsinki and Bournemouth readings (the latter back on CD in January - cause of much rejoicing), there is his Chamber Orchestra of Europe cycle on Finlandia and a disc on LPO's own label, coupled with No.7. I'm not aware of a Philharmonia recording, however.

I'm surprised there's not a No.2 yet from Pietari Inkinen - it's the only symphony missing from his Naxos cycle (well, apart from Kullervo) and the last disc was released in 2011.

[pastoralguy]

Damn fine work!

[BBMmk2]

I have Ashkenazy and Vanska

[Petrushka]

Is Concertgebouw/Szell no longer available? Always had a soft spot for that one.

Other than that I have BPO/Karajan, LSO/Davis (twice), Halle/Barbirolli (EMI), VPO/Maazel and NYPO/Bernstein. I'm most interested in the forthcoming Berglund/Bournemouth cycle as I missed this on original issue.

[rauschwerk]

Is Concertgebouw/Szell no longer available?

Yes, as a download.

[Parry1912]

Where's JLW?

I'm expecting her to recommend the Szell/Tokyo on Blu-Spec for a small fortune!

[Andrew Preview]

Another for your list Eine Alpensinfonie - San Francisco Symphony, Blomstedt.

[Beef Oven]

Osmo Vanska untouchable in 2

[Bryn]

RPO/Barbirolli for me (and quite possibly JLW's prime choice too, IIRC).

[reinerfan]

I think that I must quite like this work as I find that I have 44 versions. My current favourites are the Barbirolli/RPO, Szell/Cleveland/Tokyo and Szell/Concertgebouw, although all my recordings have something interesting to say.

[Pabmusic]

I think that I must quite like this work as I find that I have 44 versions. My current favourites are the Barbirolli/RPO, Szell/Cleveland/Tokyo and Szell/Concertgebouw, although all my recordings have something interesting to say.

The Barbirolli/RPO takes some beating.

[Hornspieler]

Is Concertgebouw/Szell no longer available? Always had a soft spot for that one.

..... I'm most interested in the forthcoming Berglund/Bournemouth cycle as I missed this on original issue.

Go for it. PLEASE!

HS