Sibelius 7.5

The final volume of the complete Sibelius Symphonies from the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra and Owain Arwel Hughes contains the ever popular 5th coupled with the beautiful less well known 6th, and the ground breaking single movement 7th, the composer's final word on the symphony. His 8th, apparently completed, was consigned to the fire by Sibelius. The first volume in this cycle was made a Gramophone Editors Choice and was praised for the performances, interpretation and the recorded sound.

British orchestras and their audiences have long held a special affinity for the orchestral works of Jean Sibelius, and the Hallé's venerable tradition of playing his music continues in this superb recording of the Symphony No. 5 in E flat major, the Symphony No. 7 in C major, and the symphonic poem En Saga. Mark Elder's straightforward interpretations are clear-headed and meticulous yet intensely passionate, and the orchestra responds to his direction by digging deep and playing with a commitment that is nearly perceptible. These symphonies and En Saga are representative of Sibelius' mature style, so their deliberate pacing and steady unfolding of motives into organic developments over long time spans require attentive listening, but the clarity of Elder's readings makes the progress of the music easy to follow. Add to this the exceptional reproduction, which brings out every detail with crispness, and presents the Hallé's warm and rich sonorities with credible presence, and the end result is a nearly ideal presentation of Sibelius' music.

With his seven symphonies the Finnish composer Jean Sibelius marks a high point in the symphonic repertoire of the 20th century. The music evokes the ghostliness of the Finnish landscape, carries an inner strength and depth and proves itself full of technical fi nesse that still poses a challenge for both conductors and performers. For Sibelius “a symphony is not a ‘composition’ in the ordinary sense. Rather, it is a declaration of faith at different stages of one’s life.”

Joshua Bell has returned to the mainstream repertoire from his recent successful excursions into film (The Red Violin) and bluegrass-crossover (Short Trip Home), and his playing, always brilliant, and arresting, has reached a new peak. Despite the booklet's claim to the contrary, these two concertos have nothing in common except fiendishly difficult bravura solo parts; rather, they represent a perfectly valid pairing of opposites. Bell makes the most of the contrasts, bringing out each work's idiomatic character.

The two Serenades ‘sung’ by the more rapturously Oistrakh-like Kang are sentimental and are recorded with rich immediacy. The Six Humoresques also arrive courtesy of Kang. These are magical bonbons - each weighted and balanced to perfection even though I favour the rawer vintage set glowingly recorded by Rosand and still available on Vox. True Sibelians must not miss these works and Kang and his orchestra do catch these silvery spells and confident little drinking songs - pride and eloquence, seduction and midnight poetry haunt these pages and it's all one especially well.

The Chief Conductor of Oslo Philharmonic and Music Director of Orchestre de Paris, Klaus Mäkelä announces his debut album; the complete Sibelius symphonies plus the fragments of the unfinished 8th and his last symphonic poem Tapiola. The orchestra has been performing the music of Jean Sibelius for over 100 years, with the composer himself conducting three concerts of his music in 1921. Together they form the Scandinivian Trio.

Norwegian-born violinist Vilde Frang makes her solo recording debut with Prokofiev's first Violin Concerto and Sibelius' Violin Concerto, plus three of the Finnish composer's Humoresques for violin and piano. With her sweet tone, fluent technique, and soulful interpretations, Frang's performances can stand comparison to many of the great recorded performances of the past. She digs in deep in Sibelius' outer movements and dispatches their manifold difficulties with apparent ease.

These four discs collect Leif Segerstam's second cycle of the symphonies of Sibelius. First issued by Ondine in the early years of the 21st century as separate discs filled out with symphonic poems, the symphonies are here condensed into a cold, hard block of eternity. Segerstam's first Sibelius cycle for Chandos in the early Nineties aimed both barrels at eternity, but with the Danish Radio Symphony Orchestra's colorful and dedicated but sometimes too cheerful playing, he didn't always hit it.

There are several reasons to own this Vox Box 2CD set. For the first, it includes five great violin concertos in some of the very best performances in their discography. For the second, Ivry Gitlis (born 1922) is a great living violinist and these recordings made in early 1950s show his art in the best way, when Ivry's violin sounded powerful and brilliant.