Sibelius: Recording Roundup

 

This roundup of Sibelius recordings includes his famous Violin Concerto, two symphonies, and a handful of tone poems.




Violin Concerto


Jascha Heifetz's 1959 recording of Sibelius' concertante masterpiece is notorious for its briskness. Indeed, the violinist cuts a full minute off of his runtime with Sir Thomas Beecham from 20-some years earlier.

Having recently heard Zino Francescatti from the 60s with Leonard Bernstein in New York, they aren't too far behind. Heifetz is a little more silvery and less solid-toned than Francescatti, although I enjoy that performance very much too. If Walter Hendl isn't as musically purposeful a conductor as Bernstein, I guess the two aspects of soloists and orchestral leaders are tradeoffs to a very small degree.

Some will prefer their Sibelius concertos more relaxed. Luckily there are plenty of those types of performances out there as well, yet far fewer with the distinctiveness of Heifetz. To some degree, the Sibelius Violin Concerto was a specialty of the violinists, so it is good to hear him in his wheelhouse.

Tone Poems

Like the Bernstein I mentioned above, I recently heard Sir Alexander Gibson in his set of Sibelius tone poems. With Gibson's Scottish ensemble, the conductor leads swift, dramatic readings of 10 symphonic poems from Sibelius.

With Sir Colin Davis and RCA in the 1990s, we get a completely different Sibelius altogether. He moves with a certain calm demeanor, preferring subtle musical gestures and a serious approach.

I generally have trouble maintaining interest in Sibelius' later tone poems regardless, such as Oceanides, Nightride and Sunrise, and Tapiola. They meander aimlessly far too much, a reason the late-Romantic style is not my particular cup of tea. Thus, at Sir Colin's very slow tempos, I really struggle with these works in particular. The addition of the early Karelia Suite doesn't endear me to the program either. Give me more of the symphonic poems!

So, this recording is going to be a matter of tastes. I generally did not enjoy RCA's set of Sibelius with Davis and the London Symphony Orchestra, nor the later LSO Live set, instead, much preferring his earlier performances in Boston. If you are opposite of me in this regard, this set of tone poems should be right up your alley. For me not so much.

Symphony no. 2
Symphony no. 6

I do not want to make this into a Colin Davis bash fest, so I will direct readers to the tone poem section above for my general feelings of his three Sibelius sets.

Of the seven symphonies, I do feel Symphony no. 6 in D minor is the best from his RCA set in the 90s. I love this symphony for its unexpected positivity and musical quirkiness. Davis tightens up his grip on tempos, making this work sound out better for me. 

Symphony no. 2 in D Major is easier to enjoy, if nothing else than through mere familiarity. As with the tone poems, the distant approach to Sibelius is not my favorite, so these will never go to my love pile, yet I still bring these out every one in a while; at least to get my money's worth. Otherwise, there are much finer out there.

 

 

Recording Roundup

Violin Concerto in D minor, op. 47
  Jascha Heifetz, violin
  Chicago Symphony Orchestra
  Walter Hendl, conductor
  RCA, 1959; 2005

Tone Poems
  London Symphony Orchestra
  Sir Colin Davis, conductor
  RCA 1999

Symphony no. 2 in D Major, op. 43
Symphony no. 6 in D minor, op. 104
  London Symphony Orchestra
  Sir Colin Davis, conductor
  RCA 1995