Sibelius Symphony No. 13

Conductor Nicholas Collon began as the new Chief Conductor of the Finnish Radio Symphony Orchestra in September 2021. This all-Sibelius programme, carefully selected by the conductor, is his debut album together with his new orchestra. Collon offers fresh and modern interpretation of Sibelius’ symphonic testament, the 7th Symphony, and brings to life the colour and drama of Sibelius’ incidental music for two plays – Maeterlinck’s famous Pelléas et Mélisande and the historic King Christian II.

The Fourth is Sibelius's most difficult symphony. For some, it is his masterpiece. When the symphony was premiered on 3 April 1911 in Helsinki, one critic compared it to Barkbröd - tree bark eaten by the Finns in times of famine! It is fittingly a Finn, conductor Santtu-Matias Rouvali, who explores this symphony that lays bare our emotions. With his Göteborg Symphony Orchestra, he continues his cycle of the complete Sibelius symphonies, with the addition of the famous Valse Triste and the symphonic poem inspired by Swedish folklore called The Wood Nymph.

The Munich Philharmonic and Sergiu Celibidache share an exceptional legacy. He started his work as principal conductor in 1979 and remained in this position for as long as 17 years. Sergiu Celibidache played an integral part in making the Munich Philharmonic what it is today: an orchestra of worldwide renown.

A true specialist of his fellow countryman Jean Sibelius’ music, Paavo Berglund recorded no less than three complete symphony cycles for EMI/Finlandia! That makes him the most devoted Sibelius conductor of the whole discography. The first symphony Berglund ever put on record was Sibelius’ seventh, his musical testament and a pure concentrate of his musical genius. It is made available in a brand-new audio cut, and coupled with other late masterpieces such as Tapiola or The Oceanides.

Alpha begins a complete cycle of the symphonies by Sibelius (and of his symphonic poems) with the Gothenburg Symphony Orchestra and its new musical director, Finnish conductor Santtu-Matias Rouvali.Originally a percussionist, the 33-year-old trained at the famous Sibelius Academy. His career took off after he stepped in at the last minute to conduct the Finnish Radio Symphony Orchestra. In the great tradition of Finnish conductors,Santtu-Matias Rouvali is known for his extremely physical and organic interpretations: Music unmistakeably flows from him, commented The Sunday Times.

With fifteen symphonies in his work list to date, as well as numerous other orchestral pieces, Kalevi Aho is one of today's most important composers of orchestral music. Twelve of the symphonies have already been released on BIS, in recordings that have earned an ever-growing interest. recent discs have been met with acclaim, for instance in the International Record Review where Symphony No.12 (‘Luosto') was described as ‘music of such graphic impact and visually arresting imagery that it feels as though you could reach out and touch it'.

I bought this CD because I wanted to own once again a performance of the marvelous Karelia Overture, the Opus 10 of the Finnish composer Jean Sibelius. Unlike the Karelia Suite, which has been recorded many times, the Overture is neglected. In the 1970's, Eugene Ormandy put out a first rate rendition with the Philadelphia Orchestra when they returned to RCA to do their recording, but I don't believe that it has ever been released on CD. This recording by Neeme Jarvi is pretty much one's only plausible option.

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.