Customer Reviews

Jean Sibelius: Symphonies No. 4-7, Tapiola etc.

5 star:		(14)
4 star:		(0)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

While it's easy to take pot-shots at von Karajan's somewhat homogenized "sound", the Berlin Philharmonic's "beautification" of angular textures, the "swooping" string entries, the "nasal" first oboist, ad naseum, it's likewise a bit stingy for reviewers to ignore what that longstanding musical partnership did so well with music they truly understood. Such was the case with von Karajan and Sibelius; to his credit, he built upon his early succcesses with the Philharmonia Orchestra, and by the end of the 1970s, he and the Berlin Philharmonic had built up a body of recordings that continue to give evidence of a great marriage between powerful symphonic writing and nuanced, thoughtful performance.

The 2-disc set involved here, Sibelius' Symphonies 4 through 7, plus "The Swan of Tuonela" and "Tapiola", recaps the best of the von Karajan/Berlin era, analogue recordings made during the mid- and late-60s by DG in the Jesus Christus Kirche facility in Berlin. When the orchestra moved into the new Philharmonie in the mid-70s, the sense of "air" around the orchestra was lost, not to mention the liveness of the vaulted plaster interior. For this DG "Originals" reissue, the engineers have thinned some of the old lower midrange muddiness that often plagued some of the best recordings of the period. Bass response is a bit lighter, and consequently brass-heavy passages may seem more dominant that they did in the LP format. The net gain, though, I believe is all to the good. The greater transparency has more of the quality that EMI's engineers brought to the same locale. Analogue tape hiss is minimal, and the soundstage is both wide and deep.

So much for sound; what about the performances? Karajan is tightly controlling when it comes to nuance, color, and timbre. These are not "spontaneous", spur-of-the-moment summonings from the musical ether. Frankly, a little of that goes a long way with Sibelius. It's too easy to cruise along and stop to point out this or that isolated bit of harmonic interest, or inflate a forgotten "inner voice." What von Karajan does is rather elemental to art of bringing Sibelius to life: he finds the pulse or core rhythm to the movements, and draws them together to build the musical architecture, or "span" of the piece. This doesn't imply a horse race from beginning to end, but rather a reluctance to dawdle in pools of rubato. Real orchestral power is built up and sustained, not thrown at you like a succession of one-two punches. What results is a sense of rightness and inevitability that eludes less effective conductors.

In sum, then, is all that is contained an unqualified rave? No. Other conductors have made stronger cases for Symphony 7, for example (to be fair, it's also the most difficult to bring off). A bit more impetuousness in some of the massed string entries might have increased the drama in Symphony 4. The strength of Sibelius as a symphonist, and as a unique voice, offers more than one avenue for conductors and orchestras to follow in bringing his music to life. The closest parallel to von Karajan in conducting Sibelius might be Ormandy. Snatch up the Sony reissue of his recordings of Symphonies 2 and 7, outstandingly performed and recorded in Philadelphia during the late 50s. Talk about control! For a more "Finnish"-sounding reading, listen to Vanska's cycle with the Lahti orchestra (here's hoping he'll try a cycle with the Minnesota Orchestra once he's settled there!). A "bigger" sound can be had through the efforts of Ashkenazy and Davis, with the Philarmonia and LSO, respectively. But, I wouldn't want to be without von Karajan and his single-minded, powerfully executed evocation of the Sibelian landscape. His thoughts on these scores, and the magisterial playing of the Berlin Philharmonic at its peak, are not to be dismissed lightly.

I think it is fair to say that Karajan had a profound understanding of the music of Sibelius - many of these items were recorded 3 or 4 times each. I cannot give an unqualified recommendation to the performance of the 7th Symphony, I find this reading a little lacking in concentration and power compared to the efforts by Simon Rattle, Ormandy and Berglund, but it remains very fine. All the other items deserve an unqualified recommendation. No. 4 is about as cold, unremitting, and austerely beautiful as one could ever hope to hear - although it may not be to everyone's taste. No. 5 is my favourite alongside that of Simon Rattle's famous record, it has simply stunning playing and conveys visionary strength in the finale. No. 6, an enigmatic work, is played with great eloquence too and an almost disarming simplicity, which is rare for this conductor. His very restraint fits the character of this subtle but deeply felt symphony admirably. Tapiola has to be considered a great success too, although Karajan went on to surpass even this performance later in his career. The original sound quality on the LPs was very good and the digital remastering for this issue is very welcome. It is good to have these classic performances back in circulation, they are worthy of the label. At medium price, this is excellent value. Strongly recommended.

This is a 2 CD set which can be recommended to those who do not normally react well to Karajan's music making. His interpretations are legendary, and the recordings are excellent, bearing in mind they are 35 years old.

The Fifth especially (recorded for the 100th anniversary of the composer's birth) is one of the recorded classics, and the recordings of the other works are hardly inferior.

Sibelius himself, on hearing Karajan's 1950s Philharmonia Orchestra mono recordings of his music, said 'Karajan is the only conductor who knows what I meant', and when one listens to this set, one can hear why.

If you want these works on CD, do not hesitate.

The recordings of Jean Sibelius' symphonies Four through Seven made by Herbert von Karajan and the Berlin Philharmonic are the best that Karajan conducted and are considered in the top five records made by Karajan and the Berliners (most recently by NPR). I had the Sibelius Seventh on LP and always regarded the performance as my favorite, so I was very pleased when I found it had been transferred to CD.

I do not think that I have heard a more moving or powerful performance of the Fourth Symphony with its somber slow movement (perhaps reflecting what Sibelius thought was a fatal illness) with a more joyous finale. The Fifth Symphony is beautifully paced with the soaring theme of the swans in the last movement truly reaching for the sky and the triumphant ending certainly one that inspires awe. The Sixth Symphony is probably the least known of Siberlius' symphonies and receives an insightful and glorious performance. The recording of the Seventh, for me, has been the most moving and engaging that I have heard and the final bars never fail to bring tears to my eyes. I have performances of the Seventh by Beecham, Ashkenazy and Colin Davis but the energy of this performance and the sound of the Berlin Philharmonic has a depth that I have not heard surpassed.

The set also includes a stunning performance of Tapiola and an atmospheric Swan of Tuonela. This DG set (recorded in the mid 1960s) may not have the sonic range that recent digital records benefit from but the performances, arguably, have a place among the best. Certainly for me they have had a permanent place with my other CDs of Sibelius' music.

I understand that many are sceptical towards Karajan. Often his sound becomes slick, I simple "hate" his version of Shostakovitch 10 for instance.

However: This is Karajan at his very, very best, and therefore it is also the best of Sibelius.

This is the standard. I`ve listened to Rattle, Janson, Sanderling... They don't come even close.

Sibelius said it himself: Karajan understands me...

Indeed.

This is the finest performance of the Sibelius Fourth that I have ever heard. The sense of lyrical rapture and elemental power is truly amazing. The silky sheen of the strings and the poetic, rounded tone colors produced by the woodwind soloists are unparalleled. This is a performance that leaves one gasping for breath. I own more than 2,000 CD's and this is one of the top twenty in my collection. It's worth many times the asking price. Don't deny yourself this set!

Bravo to Deutsche Grammophon for issuing this inexpensive 2-CD set. These recordings from the mid-1960s feature excellent analogue stereo sound and superlative performances of each of the last four Sibelius symphonies. One might quibble as to whether there are superior performances of any one of these four masterworks, but one cannot plausibly argue that there are any greater performances of these four works issued together. Besides, Karajan is indisputably one of the most accomplished Sibelius conductors, a fact which even the composer himself attested to in writing in the early 1950s. These recordings, which the composer sadly did not live to hear, confirm Sibelius's assertion and make this set an essential acquisition.

To say in one word...PERFECTION!!!

Karajan has a grasp of structure and tone few others ever come close to in this music.

I also love Davis with Boston for different reasons..

Finland is a cold frozen arctic country and this music reflects it...there is one whole piece Tapiola which evokes this country wonderfully....

You have to go to Finland to understand this vision of music, but if you can't get there Karajan has an understanding of the desolate north...

I live in Canada so comply that this interpretation has that feeling of the North!!!

For serious collectors indeed!!!

Like others in 'The Originals' series, this set has a liner note that tries a bit too hard to sell the product to us. However it contains one remark, intended to be about the conductor, that actually fits the music itself very well (make allowances for its being a translation) 'This sound-scenario, unclouded either by outpourings from the soul or expressionist rumblings, or by sentimental self-portrayal...' As applied to Karajan I'm not sure that even makes sense: as applied to nearly all the music here I'd say it makes excellent sense. My own idea of the last four Sibelius symphonies is like that - meaning absolutely no disparagement of Mahler or Shostakovich, these are pure 'absolute' music and their symphonies are not. I am not visited by images of Finland when I hear them (perhaps because I have never been there). Still less do they feature outpourings from the soul and whatnot as above. They stay within the bounds of pure 'absolute' music, if 'bounds' is the right word, which I doubt. Absolute music is an infinite universe in its own right, and I hear these four symphonies as the successors to the four symphonies of Brahms in revealing what it can achieve.

If that's how I conceptualise them, then obviously that is also how I listen to these performances. In fact I have owned them on LP for a good many years, but I greatly welcome this economically-priced twin-cd set, which has the great Tapiola thrown in as well, and also The Swan of Tuonela in case anyone wants that. There has been some doctoring of the sound in the process, and you can hear it right at the start. The first note in the basses of symphony # 4 is marked fortissimo, sure, but it does not sound like this from Beecham or Berglund, nor indeed from Uncle Herbert himself on vinyl. I almost thought I must have put on the Brahms D minor concerto by mistake for a moment. Any remaining suggestions of this movement's origins as a string quartet (very marked from Beecham) are completely obliterated, and this fullness of tone pervades the set. The slow movement of # 4 is eloquently handled by Karajan, desolate and comfortless in its opening pages. However as the movement goes on there are sequences for full orchestra, and I shall need more hearings to convince myself that the ripe sound of these really suits the general expression. The start of # 5 is 'homogenised' and smoothed over as before, but the very end of the work starts to put strain on my sense of what kind of music this is. Great technicolour tone certainly, but giving me an uncomfortable sense of an MGM blockbuster.

I think, really, I had better assess this set from two distinct viewpoints, one addressed to Karajan's faithful who will likely not brook much fault-finding, and the other for those who think and feel along anything like the lines I do. From a box-ticking point of view I guess most of the boxes get ticked. This is the great Berlin Phil, and we know how they can play. The sound is excellent of its type, and I may have managed to give some idea of that. Karajan is fully in touch with the idiom of this composer, and he was undoubtedly in many ways the leading conductor of his era. My own slight problem is with where he was leading us to. Even when I was young I thought him a bit of a media maestro, with his speedboats, fast cars, glamorous women and whatnot, especially whatnot I dare say. To this day I can never get out of my mind Beecham's immortal 2-edged gibe 'a kind of musical Malcolm Sargent', and although I find any amount to admire and enjoy in these accounts, my recollection reverts enviously to the performances I have from Beecham himself, and not only Beecham either but also Kajanus between the wars in classic accounts that still manage to sound surprisingly well. Karajan set very high standards, but it was a little too standardised for my own liking.

Symphonies 6 and 7 come off very well (so do 4 and 5, come to that, in case I seem to have hinted otherwise.) In #6 the characteristic `pale' tone is caught exactly, and the speeds are reasonable, much like Berglund's. I mention that point because my collection also includes a classic Finnish account from Schneevoigt in the 1930's that manages to lop 5 minutes off Karajan's timing. That, in a work lasting distinctly less than half an hour, is quite a bit of lopping. With # 7 Karajan excels himself in my own favourite sequence, the marvellous stretch of total euphony that begins after about 2 and ½ minutes and lasts for about 3 more, finally ushering in the solemn trombone theme with an effect like revealing some Holy Grail. This was around 1920, yet here for a few precious moments is the very tone of Beethoven's Lydian Song bestowed on us again.

In The Swan of Tuonela I suppose I can recommend this performance to anyone able to endure the piece. Tapiola is another matter, and to my Category A Karajan devotees I can give the account something like full marks. To my Category B fellow-curmudgeons I have to whisper that it is not in the league of Beecham or Kajanus. And speaking of Kajanus, try to hear how he handles the first movement of # 5, with its sense of low rainclouds scudding across the sky and the wonderful morphing of the first section into the second, the sequence that gave Sibelius more trouble than anything else in his published output.

5 quite honest stars from one point of view, because my own slant on all this is not one that I demand agreement with. However there are heavenly spheres within spheres.

For the budget price and 2 CD's packed with these four great symphonies and two shorter works, you can't go wrong. I think von Karajan is the way to go for Sibelius, and these are certainly excellent recordings. I'm not an expert in Sibelius' music, but after one or two listening sessions, I can tell you that the music is beautiful. Though the recording is ADD, the quality is quite strong. I try to buy DDD when I can, but there is no obvious weakness to the sound on these CD's. I even like the CD design which recreates the album look of the original DG recordings. All in all, a great combination, lots of music and a fair price. Did I mention a great performance by the most legendary Sibelius conductor and the Berlin Philharmonic? Give it a listen.