Customer Reviews

Sibelius: The Complete Symphonies

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I own three sets of the Sibelius symphonies: Maazel/VPO, Davis/LSO, and this one. There are still a lot of other ones out there that I haven't heard yet, but if were to make a recommendation this one would be my pick. Vanska and the Lahti Symphony Orchestra give some really fine performances of these works. A few bonuses with this Sibelius cycle is the symphonic poem Tapiola, and the 1915 version of the 5th symphony which is very interesting to compare with the final version. The sound quality is great, and the rather extensive liner notes give some very helpful information about each piece. This set costs a little bit more than some of the other ones available out there, but I think it's worth it.

To be truly honest, my only disappointment with this set was the the 2nd symphony, which seemed to lack some of the intensity that I find in all the other performances in this collection. It's probably because the 2nd is my favorite Sibelius symphony and I'm really picky about it (I own 6 recordings of the 2nd). All I can say is don't let that keep you from buying this set. There are plenty of good recordings of the 2nd out there, so don't be discouraged.

Still, I highly recommend this set. Just listen to some Sibelius. More people need to hear his music.

Jean Sibelius remains somewhat of an enigma to concertgoers: nearly everyone is enraptured with the second symphony and many swoon over the fifth and seventh symphonies, but so often symphonies one, three, four, and six are overlooked. Yes, his violin concerto is well represented in nearly every contemporary violinist's repertoire, but the tone poems evade popularity. That is why it is exciting to own this fine set of four discs that not only surveys all seven symphonies but also adds the Tapiola as an encore.

Osmo Vänskä conducts the Lahti Symphony Orchestra in an echt recording of Sibelius. Yes, some may prefer a different approach to the more familiar symphonies such as the second, but taken as a whole Vänskä coaxes stunning performances from his ensemble. He allows the massive 'organ pedal' sustaining notes that occur repeatedly in all of the symphonies to sound as if they are the earth itself emerging through splits in the glacial craters of the Scandinavian landscape. His tempi are so correct that they constantly encourage the sense of urgency few other conductors find in the works. If this listener had to select a favorite among the works it would clearly be the performance of the rarely heard and somewhat musically retrospective Symphony No. 3. Rarely has this work seemed so coherent and so ripe with all the ideas that constantly sprang from Sibelius' mind. It is a gem of a performance.

Not one for boxed sets usually, this particular one, recorded with some of the finest sound available, is a mighty exception. It is a solid, consistently inspiring reading of the Sibelius symphonies. Grady Harp, November 06

Perhaps I've heard more memorable performances of some of these symphonies -- which, along with Debussy and Ravel's orchestral music, are my all-time favorite symphonic works -- but taken as a whole these are quite well played, with tempi reasonably judged and plenty of Sibelian atmosphere. The strings are a tad thin but have an appealing and appropriate "chill" to their sound, and the woodwinds and brass parts are persuasively characterized.

As a bonus, you get BIS' wonderfully natural recorded sound, superior examples of how to properly record a symphony orchestra. If you're looking for one-stop Sibelius symphony shopping, you will be pleased with this collection.

Trust me. You have no need to read the rest of this review. This is the symphonic cycle to own. I always knew that Sibelius's music was extraordinarily beautiful, but it was obvious from other recordings I used to own that the interpretations I heard were sub-par. I took a chance on an orchestra I had never heard of, and I was blown away. The precision and care with which these great works are handled is simply unmatched by any major orchestra's recorded performances. The closest I came to hearing a rendition of the Fifth this good was a tape from Deutsche Grammaphon, but I cannot find a CD of that particular recording. No matter. It is no longer necessary. I am intent on eventually purchasing all of Sibelius's orchestral fare strictly from this conductor and orchestra.

Every time the brass enter, it is an incisive cut through the ephemeral strings. The woodwinds are always playful, the strings precise and finely tuned. With Sibelius's complicated phrasing and enigmatic rhythms, it is vital that the subtleties don't get lost in mushier playing, and the fact that this orchestra survives on a smaller string section helps a great deal in keeping the sound clean and fresh, like you would imagine the air of Finland to be.

Highlights include the superb and highly dramatic entrances of the strings and then the brass in the opening of the First, followed by respite with a jaunty little passage for harp and woodwinds; the pastoral first movement of the Second, followed by a lightning-fast Scherzo; the somber and tremulous passages in the Fourth; the frightening screech of the Horns at the climax of the Seventh, shortly before the prolonged leading tone in the penultimate chord; there's even the original version of the Fifth for your enjoyment. But what sets this recording above other cycles in my opinion is the way that the Fifth and Sixth are handled.

The Horns are crucial in the Fifth, and here there are no complaints, only pure, harmonious playing. The strings also have a vitally important part in the first movement as they climb chromatically in oscillating chords behind fragmented melodies in the woodwinds, and Vänskä interprets this increase in dramatic tension perfectly, with a wonderful slurred motion that accentuates the rhythm without drowning the winds. The end of the first movement is beautifully done, as the timpani releases the rest of the orchestra to scurry to the finish in the higher registers. In the final movement, the Horns once again prove their mettle by keeping their layered playing expertly connected, slurring up and down to make mountaintops while playing harmony in thirds. The final staccato chords with the pauses in between are so often given to the occasional false start, but not here. The finale is a satisfying and powerful finish.

The Sixth took me entirely by surprise. I had never heard this symphony played so well, therefore its immense power was hidden from me for quite some time. The strings take their time giving their mournful opening over to a lighter passage for harp and woodwinds; the brass are reliable in their ability to cut through everything with a surgeon's knife, and they do not disappoint here. The second movement consists mostly of scales, and fragments of scales for melody, with an almost baroque-like fortspinnung for strings in the final section. Here the delicacy of tension, just as in the opening movement of the Fifth, is held with exactness. The scherzo-like third movement showcases the Horns heralding the midsection and the finale with a magnificent dropping of the harmony back into the tonic with a few decisive chords. They also appear in the final throes of the fourth movement, bringing this magnificent symphony to glorious life once more.

The Lahti Symphony is apparently devoted almost entirely to the study of Sibelius's music. On this set, it most definitely shows. I cannot recommend it highly enough.

With such a tremendous range of recorded Sibelius symphonies to choose from, there's a genuine risk of disappointment when contemplating yet another addition to this legacy. But during the 1990s, dedicated Sibelians became aware of a scuttlebutt surrounding a particular Finnish orchestra and its low-key conductor -- that there was something unexpected and special there, both with their technical chops and with their approach to the repertory. A taste of this is to be found in Volume 1 of Bis' Sibelius Edition, as Osmo Vänskä and the Lahti Orchestra offer compelling and frequently definitive performances of Sibelius's tone poems. And individual CDs of these performers' renderings of Sibelius symphonies have been available for several years. But it's nice to have them gathered into a single set, so that everyone can hear what all the fuss is about.

Vänskä and the Lahti combine a technical precision and sensitivity for orchestral balance with a re-reading of the original scores that favors extreme tempo contrasts and more literal observation of the composer's dynamic and interpretive markings. You might think of Vänskä's approach as Colin Davis meets Pierre Boulez. No one does better than the Lahti with those Sibelius's trademark sustained chords during which various instrumental groups are faded up or down to mutate the loudness and color. And Vänskä excels at adapting the orchestral sound to the era of multi-track digital audio recording. Keep an ear out for the definition in the bass register as you work your way through the CDs, and I expect that you'll hear some new details in these hackneyed masterpieces.

Now for some of the interpretive novelties that stand out for me. The First Symphony does well for a "first symphony" but is still heavily indebted to the Russian symphonic tradition, particularly Tchaikovsky's Fifth Symphony, which provides the formal model. After the famous timpani and clarinet introduction, the first movement continues as an allegro in 6/4 time, starting with the beautiful first theme with its ambiguous tonality, hovering between E minor (the ostensible home key) and G major. Sibelius uncharacteristically provided a metronome indication for the allegro (dotted half note equals 108). This is quite brisk actually, and few conductors match it. Vänskä goes faster than most, but by my watch even he only clocks in at 100 or so. To be sure, some details get lost at this tempo, such as the timpani triplets underlying the oboes/clarinets' answer to the flute melody in thirds at the start of the second theme group. When the violins pick up the theme pizzicato, Sibelius gives the same triplets to the low flutes. These are rarely heard, and at Vänskä's tempo they're again barely audible. This is too bad, both because Sibelius was always underbalancing material he scored for low flutes (like the second theme in the scherzo of the 6th) and because these triplets come back in the development, after rehearsal letter M (ca. 5:20 and 5:26 in this recording).

As is well known, this second theme group reprises a passage from the solo clarinet introduction. Meanwhile the high strings and harp alternate between F# major and first inversion C# minor chords. Officially this is in C# minor, and you're hearing IV/i6 chords in alternation, but due to the accents, and perhaps 100 years of assimilation of 20th Century modalism, I hear this as I/iv6 chords in F# major (with the E natural being a flat 7). When the violins repeat the tune pizzicato, it's in E minor, again with a flat 7. When the oboe proceeds to the next theme in this group, the tonality finally settles on B minor, the dominant minor, a relation that again emphasizes a modal flat 7. When the bassoons bring back the main second theme in counterpoint, it's the basis for an orchestral pyramid that climaxes in B minor, leading into the development, which changes to B major before setting off on a tour of various other keys. The second half of the development is devoted to the famous passage featuring chromatic scales moving down in the woodwinds and up at double speed in the cellos and double basses. At the climatic point where the first theme is reprised, Vänskä resists the temptation succumbed to by others, of slowing the tempo down suddenly.

The recording of the Second Symphony is interesting right off the bat. The work opens with some famous string chords that are marked louré (portato) in the score, and which tend to blur together in most recordings. But the Lahti strings separate the notes, playing them almost staccato. I'm not sure that I like it, since when the chords recur later in the movement, Sibelius makes a distinction between louré and détaché bowing. For example, when they're heard in the second theme group, and then at the end of the exposition (just before the oboe solo), they're louré as before, but later, after the clarinet solo over timpani, they're détaché (and more menacing). Vänskä's attention to detail in the score is evinced at the end of the movement: most conductors slow way down here, but Vänskä observes Sibelius POCO rallentando indication, giving it a more modest conclusion, a simple pause leading right into the second movement's lugubrious opening.

Speaking of the second movement, after the first theme group's Poco Allegro climax and subsidence, the beautiful second theme enters in F# major in subdivided strings. The dynamic indication here is ppp, only a hair louder than the C in the bass that just faded into near-nothingness. Vänskä is the first conductor I've heard actually take this at the limit of audibility. It takes some getting used to, but it's presumably closer to what Sibelius wanted. The woodwind entrance in sixteenth notes is only supposed to be pp, but it sounds too jarringly loud here. Curiously, when the oboes and clarinets come in a few bars later, over the sixteenth notes in flutes and bassoons, they're marked forte, though the strings have only increased to mp at this point (the flutes and bassoons are ambiguously marked poco f). This seems rather incoherent to me (and most conductors apparently, but Vänskä at least has a go of it. After the brief development section, where a motive from the second theme group is sequenced over violin trills, comes the recapitulation. The lugubrious bassoon theme from before is now recalled in a call and response between the first trumpet and the first flute, the latter being at the bottom of its register. The balance is always troublesome in live performances (do any conductors ask for an alto flute here to boost the dynamic level?) and it's problematic in this recording too. Also, the trumpeter plays with a little vibrato while the flutist plays with very little, which is a curious reversal of common practice nowadays.

Moving along, remember that Poco Allegro climax to the first theme group in the exposition? Well Sibelius marks the corresponding recapitulation passage Allegro, suggesting that it should be faster the second time around. Most conductors ignore this, but Vänskä takes the recap much faster than the exposition, adding to the more familiar dramatic difference (the half-step lick originally in the woodwinds being given over to loud trumpets). At the climax during the Largamente, it sounds like Vänskä has the tuba joining the half-step sixteenth note pickups given to the double basses and bassoons, a departure from his usual fidelity to Sibelius's markings (according to my copy of the score, at least). The recapitulation of the second theme group starts mf in bassoons, violas and cellos, and is in D minor instead of the earlier F# major. At the coda, we again hear Vänskä's "return to the text" approach: the final chord held over pizzicato strings is ff, with a diminuendo that applies to most of the brass instruments but NOT to the woodwinds parts or the instruments sustaining the low D. In other words, as the chord is sustained, its color changes as trumpets and trombones fade out and the balance becomes more bottom-heavy.

To many of us, the quality of the Second declines after the slow movement. The third movement lacks the originality of Sibelius's other "scherzo" movements, the bridge to the fourth movement is obviously cribbed from Beethoven's Fifth Symphony, and the fourth movement's second theme, a precursor to Shostakovich's Leningrad symphony or Ravel's Bolero that consists of several progressively louder and busier statements of the same melody over a repeating one-bar ostinato, has inspired as much derision as admiration. I'll simply offer that Vänskä doesn't apologize for the fourth movement in this regard, keeping tempo on the slow side.

In the Third Symphony's first movement, the main theme gets buried under the running sixteenth notes at the recapitulation, an uncharacteristic defect of orchestral balance. The second movement is the most troublesome in all Sibelius's symphonies: very repetitive, cast in a predictable ternary form. It's the sort of piece that works if the theme is exceptionally beautiful, but the melodies here are only pedestrian by Sibelius standards, and the underscoring lacks the constant variety and invention that we associate with the master. Vänskä doesn't apologize for this movement either, though, taking it (once again) at a relatively show pace. This places strain on the intonation and breath control of the horns and woodwinds, but the Lahti band is up to the challenge.

The third movement poses different problems, set in an unusual two-part form. The first part is fragmentary but goes on too long to feel strictly introductory, and the second part is an orchestral "pyramid" akin to the ending of the Second Symphony where a single theme gets louder and more elaborately accompanied on repetition. It's an odd coupling, but Vänskä approaches the movement by analogy to Night Ride and Sunrise (composed two years later), with the ending resembling a glorious northern sunrise.

The Fourth and Fifth Symphonies are the holy grail of Sibelius symphony recordings. No. 4, widely considered the composer's greatest achievement, is given an intense and lugubrious reading, with great attention to detail. Leave it to Sibelius to come up with a tempo indication like MOLTO moderato (by which he apparently means slower than plain-old "moderato"). Vänskä takes it at an average tempo as interpretations of this piece go, which is a bit of a surprise given his penchant to favor the slow side of things. Sibelius was at his fussiest here when it comes to composed changes in dynamic levels, and the score is full of layered dynamic markings, chords sustained for an extra eighth note in selected instruments, crescendos from ppp to pp and back, etc. The Fourth also represents a high point in the pleasure Sibelius evidently took in disguising the notated beat, especially in slow movements. Have a look at the score (available online for free) and see how the E-F# alternation at the beginning undergoes a composed ritardando from syncopated quarter notes to dotted quarter notes to half notes. Or look at the passage in the development section for unaccompanied violins that sounds like a succession of eighth notes, but which the score reveals to actually be syncopated: the "eighth notes" are all offset from the true beat by a sixteenth note, leading the musicians to apply a degree of tension that Sibelius figures would otherwise be lacking.

Vänskä's approach to all this, coupled with Bis's notoriously wide recording range, leads to some unusual results. For example, the slow buildup of the initial solo cello theme is handled conventionally up until the violin entrance, but then there's a sudden diminuendo that seems in excess of the simple single-level wedge marked in the score. Next comes a big crescendo (more justified, perhaps, since the score does has the ensemble going from about a pp to a ff in two bars' time) that leads to the brass entrance. On the first of their half-diminished 7th chords, the brass are all marked fp followed by a crescendo, but the timpani roll starts p without the loud attack. Vänskä uncharacteristically disregards this subtlety, allowing the timpanist to play with an accented attack like the brass.

The slow movement taxes the intonation and breath control of any wind section, but again the Lahti team meets the challenge. Only the first oboe seems overbalanced during the solos, this being more of a mixing issue rather than a performance issue. The climax of the movement, where the strings break out with the main theme, the only time it's heard with its full shape, is handled as well here as anywhere. Vänskä notes the melodic anticipation of the forth movement after this climax, and proceeds immediately with the finale after the briefest of pauses. An ongoing controversy among conductors concerns what instrument to assign to the "glocken" part. Some opt for chimes, some, like Vänskä use a glockenspiel, and a handful use both. The second theme group features dissonant, acrid string chords, and there's not a lot of separation between them in this recording (and I think the texture gets a bit muddy as a result). The movement is an arch form where the ensuing passage with rapid C major scales comes in the middle, so this second theme group returns immediately, now accompanied by pizzicato strings instead of the détaché chords. There's a hint of playfulness or whimsy in the interpretation here. The climax at the return of the main theme again features less separation in the brass solos (ascending octaves in first horn and first trombone) than in most interpretations. Vänskä tends to avoid separating longer note values except when Sibelius explicitly requests it, and these octave leaps, like the aforementioned string chords, are half notes.

The ending of the Fourth befuddles many conductors. There's no ritardando in the score, and the A minor string chords that close the work are marked dolce (how "sweetly" can you play A minor?) and mf. The odd choice of dynamic level (presumably the first time anyone ended a Romantic symphony mezzo-forte) makes a bit more sense when you observe that Sibelius has dropped the strings down to pp just before. But many conductors miss this nuance, slow the tempo down, and deliver these chords very softly and tragically. Vänskä can't resist a very slight ritard on the last couple of chords, but otherwise sticks to the composer's directions.

Next up is the Fifth Symphony, but hey, what happened to the horn call that begins the first movement? Instead we get something reminiscent of the opening of Lemminkäinen and the Maidens followed by the familiar woodwind counterstatement of the missing horn call. Oh, that's right, before we get to the Fifth that we know and love, we're going to be treated to the 1915 version, which is the earliest surviving incarnation of the worth, and the one that was premiered before Sibelius's extensive reworkings during World War I. This version lay buried and inaccessible for decades before the Sibelius estate authorized a 1970 performance, followed by this 1995 recording (which you can purchase separately here, along with the original version of En Saga). Of all the "alternate versions" recorded in the Bis Sibelius Edition endeavor, this is by far the most fascinating. In many ways, the first movement + scherzo combination is more compelling to me in this 1915 version, which retains more traces of modernist harmony and unconventional symphonic form, hearkening back to the "difficult" Fourth Symphony. The curious mid-movement bassoon solo is here, but not the loud climatic passage that brings back the horn call. Also, in 1915 the symphony had four labeled movements. I'd always known this, but it turns out that the break is in an entirely unexpected place. In fact, it's in the "middle" of the music, so to speak, in a way that has few precedents before Carter's First String Quartet. The scherzo ends modestly with just a whiff of the first movement's main theme, followed by a sudden halt on a dissonant dominant-function chord (which would have been the only time Sibelius ended a symphonic movement on a dissonance). I prefer this to the prolonged and rather bombastic Presto-over-a-tonic-chord-prolongation that serves as the coda in the final 1919 version.

By contrast, the 1915 slow movement and finale are clearly inferior to their 1919 counterparts. The horn theme in parallel thirds is there in the finale, but the counterpoint in the high cellos is tentative and fragmentary, almost like baby's first steps compared to its final form, which in 1915 is heard only in the coda (compare the treatment of the main theme of the Fourth's slow movement, which grows until it reaches its final form at the movement's climax). A bitonal trumpet entrance toward the end of this section was suppressed in the final version, which uses conventional 19th century harmony throughout. I won't spoil the surprise of how Sibelius handled the work's ending in 1915, but it will put a smile on your face when you hear it for the first time.

Now onto the "real" Fifth. The key to the first movement is controlling the subtly changing colors of the many sustained chords and pedals. This performance handles those complexities quite acceptably. A highlight is the aforementioned bassoon solo midway. It's often overplayed, with too much vibrato, but it gets some welcome restraint here. My ears cannot tell if the beginning of the solo is doubled by a sotto voce clarinet as requested by Sibelius. This passage leads into another series of orchestrally layered sustained chords that introduce the reprise of the second theme group. This seems undernuanced in the violins, while the accents in the brass seem exaggerated to me, but reasonable people can differ on this. In the B major tutti climax that follows, Vänskä departs from literalism with an interesting trick: he has the trombones playing fp on the downbeat of the 12/8 bars, which allows the trumpets to "emerge" more clearly out of the mix with the main theme. This scales down the brilliance (and perhaps the bombast) dramatically. Compare with the Colin Davis BSO recording from the 1970s, a typical "loud" rendering of this passage.

Perhaps the trickiest passage in the 1919 Fifth Symphony is the entrance of the main theme after the moto perpetuo that launches the last movement. It's hard to find the balance between plowing through as though nothing structurally significant has happened (and the score gives you little help here, with no breaks or tempo changes) and overemphasizing the horn entrance (thus creating too obvious an interruption of the music's flow and subtle overlapping phrases). Vänskä doesn't disappoint here. The horn theme in thirds anchored on B-flat is just right, and the balance with the accompanying soaring theme in high cellos and woodwinds is perfect. Toward the end of this glorious section, the double basses get sixteenth note pickups that sound more distinct than usual in this recording (remember what I said about listening to the bass register?). Too bad the sixteenth notes in the flutes that ensue at the return of the moto perpetuo theme are as buried here as they usually are in performance.

In the misteroso section in G-flat major, the subdivided muted violins practically disappear (there's that crazy Bis dynamic range again). After a while, the upper strings, still muted and now playing spiccato, outline the famous horn tune, while two flutes and a clarinet recount the melody previously given to the high cellos and woodwinds. This tune has a distant, plaintive quality in this recording, and it sounds like the flutes are playing non vibrato. Next the spiccatos and mutes go away and the upper strings take the "cello" theme while the oboes get the "horn" theme anchored on B-flat. The key shifts back to the tonic of E-flat and the trumpets make their first entrance (aside from a single soft supporting chord), picking up the horn theme, but with a subtle change in harmony: whereas the horns were in strict parallel thirds throughout, the second trumpet goes up to A-flat instead of G every third and fourth measures. A detail that's often missed here is that the oboes double the trumpets on the second beat of each 3/2 measure. In real time, this long, drawn out coda comprises about half the length of the movement, leading to the famous ending with a hackneyed I6 - V - IV/V - V - I chord progression given in six sharp chords, with several beats of silence between them. Vänskä, like most conductors, cheats a bit here by shorting the rests by about a beat. The timpani pickups to the first, fifth and sixth chords are clearly separated here (note that it's a double grace note preceding the first chord, but a single pickup preceding the last two). There are many wonderful recorded Fifths, and this one doesn't astonish me, but I doubt you'll find it disappointing.

No. 6 is the most introverted of the symphonies except for No. 4. It's also a sentimental favorite among musicians, despite its unevenness. I dislike the schmaltzy opening in the upper strings (the double basses in fact don't play until the middle of the development section), but once past that I love the introspection and formal unpredictability of the first movement. Vänskä takes the second movement at a pretty slow pace -- it's marked Allegretto moderato but conductors nowadays seem to want to make it into a "true" slow movement to exaggerate the contrast with the Poco vivace that follows it. Unfortunately this is one case where slowing things down come at a price in rhythmic subtlety. The opening chorale passage in flutes and bassoons is in 3/4 like the rest of the movement, but although your ear will probably tell you that they're dotted quarter notes coming on every downbeat, they're actually two dotted quarter notes tied across the bar with the attack coming on the "and" of 2 (in the middle of the bar). It's not until a couple measures into the subsequent violin melody that you can finally nail where the true downbeat is. But if the tempo is too slow, and you lose the beat entirely, you're deprived of this "aha" moment.

The first few minutes of this second movement are built on an alternation between the elaborate first theme group and a second theme that starts with an ascending melodic minor scale. This reaches a climax in one of Sibelius's most astonishing orchestral passages where some crazy scales in the strings, mostly eighth note triplets with shorter notes often coming on the third beat, are combined with the first theme in the brass. Sibelius's idea here seems to be to create a wall of sound with forward motion and subtle rhythmic and textural changes, but the advantage of Vänskä's tempo is that you can hear every note in the runs. I'm not sure that's what the composer had in mind, but if you've heard this piece many times before, this is the sort of thing that can be revelatory.

Just what key is the scherzo in? It starts in F major/D minor with no key signature, and for the first several bars, Sibelius avoids writing either a B or a B-flat. Soon we get both B-naturals and B-flats in close alternation, creating hints of Dorian or Lydian modalities. At the same time, the striking dotted note rhythms of the opening give way to steady eighth notes in 6/8 time, which leads to fast scales in strings and woodwinds, after which the first theme group settles on A minor where the main tune is given by flutes in thirds followed by oboes in thirds. The dotted notes return, this time in A minor but modulating to D minor for the second theme group, where the strings and reed instruments continue the hocketing with the kettledrums occasionally joining in. Somehow a melody in two flutes echoed by harp harmonics is supposed to penetrate through this -- in performance it's very hard to pull off, but the Lahtis, like everyone else who has recorded this piece, benefit from the wonders of multi-track recording here. The second theme group builds up the theme in a long stretto, followed by some brass snarls under which the string runs return to start the recapitulation (there's no development to speak of). As expected, the first theme group returns at the original pitch level, but the series of runs that leads into the main theme is extended by a few bars so that we wind up in D minor for the theme in parallel thirds (again in flutes followed by oboes). The second theme group, though is in A minor this time around. The brass snarls return with the string runs, and brief coda based on material from the first theme group closes the movement in D minor.

Of the fourth movement I'll just say that it's not as overwrought as it frequently is, and the morendo at the end is breathtaking despite proceeding at full speed (Vänskä refuses the commonly indulged temptation to take an unmarked ritard).

The opening of the Seventh Symphony is another of those Sibelius "northern sunrise" affairs. The very start is troublesome since it's nothing more than a couple of timpani strokes followed by a simple ascending minor scale. Vänskä begins very softly and crescendos on the scale so that it really does sound emergent. He takes the entire Seventh at about 23 minutes, toward the long end of the scale, but the piece doesn't seem to drag. One reason is the restraint exercised in the slow first section. Whereas many conductors get a bit overwrought on the louder passages there, exaggerating the louds and maximizing bowed string vibrato, Vänskä dials it down a notch, waiting until the famous trombone entrance before letting the orchestra loose. This takes some getting used to if you're accustomed to performances that lay everything out in the first seven minutes with maximum angst. But it has the advantage of moving the music along better, highlighting the recurrence of this material in the middle and ending, and shifting the work's proportions more toward the faster middle sections.

Again, Vänskä handles the work's ending in a way that more closely follows Sibelius's markings than most recordings. The string sextuplets under the final occurrence of the trombone theme are audible as they work their way in "fauxbourdon" from the bass up to the treble. At the very end, the trumpets, trombones and most of the bass instruments are actually marked mf -- it's only the upper strings (on their B-C resolution) and woodwinds that rise to ff while the rest of the instruments are brought under. Most conductors go for the grand ending here, letting the entire orchestra blast away at ff and putting a fermata on the final consonance. But the two alternate (preliminary) versions of the ending that appear on CD 5 shed some light on thought process behind Sibelius's surprisingly modest conclusion, which Vänskä honors by observing his dynamic markings and proceeding in strict time. This is one of those revelatory moments that we've come to associate with Vänskä and Sibelius.

A note about editions: this set is practically identical to Volume 12 of Bis' Sibelius Edition. The latter is five CDs though, omitting Tapiola, but including all the surviving alternate passages and versions (including the 1915 version of the Fifth). The performances of the canonical symphonies are the same. There's also the Essential Sibelius set, which includes the canonical symphonies, violin concerto, most of the important tone poems and a sampling of the stage, chamber, piano and vocal music.

Those contemplating a purchase of a Sibelius symphony won't go wrong with one of the traditional favorites (e.g., Colin Davis and the BSO). But this set is both a worthy introduction to the master, and a worthy addition to an already well-stocked Sibelius shelf. Spend a few pleasurable hours with these recordings, and hear for yourself why these performers have earned the admiration of many devoted Sibelians.

This could have been a great cycle. As it is, it's quite quite good. There are some thrilling moments, some pedestrian moments, and one 25-minute long horrible moment. It's this mixed quality that makes the set so frustrating: first I want to cherish it and then I want to get rid of it. Overall, though, it's a keeper.

The First is an okay reading, but it won't displace favorites Maazel/Pittsburgh on Sony (the only reading in that cycle that's worth a darned), Davis/Boston/Philips, Ormandy/Minneapolis Symphony/ or Sanderling/Berlin Symphony/Brilliant Classics and others I'm sure I'm forgetting. The scherzo here is particularly disappointing: tightly wound, it has no humor or joy or life, only speed. The Second lacks the drama, the heft, of the great readings, and is a bit boring by the end. The orchestra here (and elsewhere in this set) can get lifeless at times. Although this is far from my favorite Sibelius symphony, some great recordings are...oh screw it. I'm not nuts about this symphony, so you'll have to find your own great recordings. Colin Davis/Boston usually works well enough for me. If I recall, Barbirolli/Halle/EMI is also an intense experience, but the sound isn't nearly as good.

Number Three is where things take off. This is a fine reading, full of energy and nuance that the first two lacked. There are subtle adjustments of tempo in the first movement that show off the structure to great advantage: Vanska finds drama and playfulness here where other conductors don't. The lyrical slow movement is gorgeous and reflective, and the ending brims with energy. It's close to tops in my book, with Davis/BPO/Philips being just about the only peer. (Davis' most recent performance, live with the LSO on that orchestra's own label, is also very good.)

But in the Fourth Vanska can't compete with some heavy hitters: Beecham/LPO/EMI, Maazel/VPO/Decca, Karajan/BPO/EMI, Davis/Boston/Philips again. (You'll get lots of recs for this set--I think it may be the best all-around set out there and a real bargain to boot--but avoid his two more recent goes, one RCA studio, one live, both with the London Symphony, both tired and pointless and the sound isn't even as good!) Here I get neither a chilling effect (Maazel, Karajan) nor a warmer, almost neo-Romantic effect (Davis). I don't get any effect, actually. I don't hear much structure here, and without an understanding of "where you are" at all times, it's easy for this symphony to fall apart into a sort of disembodied state.

For the Fifth we have two versions, the original, thought for many years to be lost, and the current edition we all know and love. For the current edition, they turn in a sparkling performance that really pays attention to all the subtle dynamics in the score. In particular I have never heard the ppp markings observed as strictly as here. Two spots stand out: in the first movement the bassoon solo over ppp arpeggiated strings. And in the last movement, at about halfway through, as the strings start their quiet murmur of the big closing theme for the first time. Talk about breathing on the strings! Majestic stuff, brought to life with fantastically clear engineering. I've never heard this much detail before, yet it all sounds natural--no spotlighting. This recording compares favorably with Davis (again), Karajan/BPO/EMI, Barbirolli/Halle/EMI, Bernstein/NYPO/Sony, without displacing any of them.

The original version of the Fifth is utterly fascinating. It's like meeting an old friend in a different form, so familiar and yet so new. In some ways I like it more than the standard version, but maybe that's just because it's new and fresh to my ears. Maybe it's because it's grimmer and more brooding and there's more drama in the struggle before we reach the finish line. At any rate, with no recordings to compare it to, I can just say Vanska and friends tear into it with passion and intensity. I recommend it highly, and I think you'll find his original thoughts particularly for the finale to be fascinating and very satisfying in a way the official version is not. Why Sibelius was not satisfied I'll never understand, but I'm grateful we have two versions to enjoy. Now if only that fabled Eighth symphony would turn up...

The Sixth Symphony is the other truly great reading in this box. This is a spirited nymph of a performance, full of joy and love and longing. And this is a symphony I can find few good recordings of. This is one, arguably the best thing in the set. So many conducts take this so somberly and "inwardly" that it becomes dull. No such concerns of Scandinavian angst concern Vaska. This is my top recommendation for this work, though Beecham/RPO/EMI is pretty special too.

After all that energy from the two versions of the Fifth and the stunning Sixth, you'd think we'd be reading for a Seventh to end all Sevenths, right? Wrong. This is my favorite Sibelius symphony, and one of my favorite symphonies period, yet I can never find a good recorded performance for it. My current favorite is Maazel/VPO/Decca. It's not perfect, but I can't find one that is, save for a live performance in 2004 by Simon Rattle and the BPO while they were touring San Francisco. They took the roof off of Davies Hall with a triumph that just may be the concert-going highlight of my life. I hope somebody recorded it.

This present performance is slow, lifeless, and lacks all majesty and drama. I turned it off the first time at about the ten minute mark, bored to tears. It takes a lot to make me turn off a Sibelius Seventh. Finally I forced myself to listen to it to write this review. It's horrible. No sense of architecture. No nobility, no build. And the tone poem Tapiola, which is sort of a "sequel" to the Seventh, is equally unsatisfactory for the same reasons.

So there you have it, after four days of slogging, some limited comparison listening, and checking some scores borrowed from the local library. It's a good set, beautifully recorded, with real attention paid to dynamics (micro-dynamics, really) but despite all that, some of the performances just don't gel. How much you need to get this set depends on how much you treasure these works, how much sound matters to you (this may be the best sounding set out there), how curious you are to hear alternate Fifth (my advice, be *very* curious), and how many other Sibelius boxes you have on your shelf. Overall I would recommend this set, but it's not as enthusiastic a recommendation as it could be.

The symphony cycle of Jean Sibelius is one of the most diverse, finely crafted and revelatory in the entire classical canon. The First (1899/1900) may not be a promising beginning, as it is brash, unfocused and lacks a distinctive voice, but plenty of first-rate composers wrote imperfect first symphonies.

For me the cycle really starts with the Second (1902, rev. 1903), an excellent example of Sibelius' principle of growth. There are four movements, where the first sets out a very basic three-note motif, the second introduces an antagonistic theme, the third is a brief bridge and the fourth reconciles the two moods. But not only is that three-note motif expanded into an elegant theme in the final movement, but Sibelius goes beyond what could have been a fine ending into ecstatic arabesques that are unexpected but irresistable.

The Symphony No. 3 (1907) subjects Sibelius' Nordic idiom to the disciple of classical clarity. The lighter scoring and the greater emphasis on rhythm offer something very new beyond the Second. But what I especially appreciate about the Third is how complex its organic development is, with the third movement especially seeming completely natural yet impervious to analysis. I feel the incredible developments of the Seventh are foreshadowed here.

If the first three symphonies are obvious developments of the Central European Romantic tradition in Nordic climes, the Symphony No. 4 (1910-11) is jarringly modernist music. Indeed, though I listen mainly to composers following in the footsteps of Schoenberg, including all that fun bleep-bloopy Darmstadt stuff, Sibelius' Fourth still freaks me out. It is a bleak work, centered around the dissonant interval called the tritone and dominated by low strings and brass moving at a glacial pace. Yet, over the course of the third movement the mood gradually shifts from darkness to light, and the entrance of a glockenspiel and dance rhythms make things wonderfully jolly for a time. Still, this momentary victory over the "Nordic gloom" is but temporary, and the music fades out with ominous tones.

After the Fourth, Sibelius encountered Central European modernism and felt he could not compete in the movement towards total chromaticism. His symphonies from here on reflect a highly individual path, embracing tonality and Romantic warmth, seeking innovation in form instead of harmony. (Hepokoski's Cambridge Music Handbook is a helpful presentation of this new stylistic course.) The Fifth (1915, rev. 1919) proceeds through an organic series of changes to finally reveal an ecstatic theme that rises above all else in the third movement. This set also includes the original 1915 version of the symphony, which is inferior to the final version but still an interesting document of the composer's search for a new idiom.

The Sixth (1923) is light, airy, luminous. There is overt drama in only a couple of brief spots (the tumultuous third movement is the shortest of the four movements), but the work holds the listener's attention through its elegant balance. The Seventh (1924) marks the highest peak of Sibelius' organic composition and is perhaps his most powerful contribution to the symphonic tradition, fusing together a world of development into one-movement form of unstoppable momentum. The crescendo marking the climax of the symphony is one of the most memorable moments in my collection. Finally, the tone poem "Tapiola" is often grouped with the symphonies due to its scope. It continues from the Seventh in its one-movement form, and features a dizzying variety of expressions of a single core motif,

Osmo Vanska's recording of this cycle is fantastic, and the Lahti Symphony Orchestra is no mediocre regional orchestra, but a troupe of fine musicians who live and breathe Sibelius. BIS's engineering captures the sense of space of a concert hall and presents these fine symphonies with no overt tinkering. (Compare Ondine's disastrous cycle with Segerstam, which sounds to me like it was recorded inside a trash can.)

But note that, as long as supplies last, BIS' Essential Sibelius box set offers better value, as it offers 15 CDs for the same price and contains all the symphonies besides much else (it lacks only the 1915 version of the Fifth). However, if you cannot get your hands on that box set, this collection of just the symphonies can be good value.

Sibelius Lover? Then you need this one!

Osmo Vanska has come to be seen as one of the most spectacular and promising conductors to have come along these past few years....recently affirming that with his absolutely spectacular Beethoven Symphony cycle with the Minnesota Symphony, also on BIS.

Vanska has this music in his blood, and he leads his "Finnish Nationals" to spectacular interpretive expression herewith, and presented in BIS's demonstration quality sound field always predictably "correct". BIS truly has earned the respect and reputation that they command in the world of recorded symphonic music.

Now, I am not about to start rating "symphonic cycle sets" as "best" or "better", etc. This is unreasonable since different conductors, orchestras, sound engineers, etc., shine differently with individual pieces; giving us in effect irregularity throughout each set. We must step back a little and view the Entire Set, overall, not it's individual components, for this sort of comparative process. I have many sets of the Sibelius Symphonies, but must say that the nature of Sibelius' "nationalism" cannot help but "shine out" under leadership from, and playing by, these natives of this rugged and severe, but beautiful, land....it's written in the music, and it's at the forefront of these people's playing. Thus, my preference goes to Vanska/Lahti, Jarvi/Gothenberg, and Berglund/Helsinki and "naturally" so.

The Second Symphony seems to be thought lacking here by some reviewers, but, truthfully, I find this slightly understated interpretation refreshing and viable. Really, I do not consider any of these works lacking or inferior...they may be "different" but not unsuccessful. The highlight of this set, for me, is the inclusion of the Original version of the Fifth Symphony along with the Revised version....truly another "gift to us" from the folks at BIS in their ongoing "Complete Sibelius Cycle"...a truly remarkable feat to undertake, now nearing its finish if it indeed has not perhaps just finished. I am interested to see how they will be marketing this enormous set of recordings (and at what kind of price).

Do yourself a favor, and add this tremendous set of readings to your collection....make it a "Sibelius Year" like I am doing! (Your ears and heart will thank you for it!)

~operabruin

I find these to be fine performances. But if you can do with downloaded MP3s instead of CDs, there is a fantastic deal to be had of an expanded version of this collection at Amazon's MP3 store (cannot seem to make this review link to it at [...])-- which includes the complete set of symphonies (with 2 versions of number 5) plus several other Sibelius works to round out the collection, all for only $7.99!

Osmo Vanska's Sibelius cycle is simply outstanding. It's probably one of the best I've heard and I've heard most of them (Barbirolli, Jarvi, Davis - all three cycles, Blomstedt, Ashkenazy, Berglund, the only one I'm waiting to hear is Segerstam's with the Helsinki Philharmonic). Anyway, one reason I'm writing this review is because Bis has a 15-CD box set called "The Essential Sibelius" that contains this very set and Sibelius' "essential" orchestral, choral, and chamber works. I think it would be in the best interests of the buyer to purchase that set, which you can get for the same price, instead of this mere 4-CD set that costs the same amount.

Vanska and the Lahti Symphony Orchestra do a fantastic job, but at this price I would much rather hear what else Vanska has up his sleeves. The other conductor who shares "THe Essential Sibelius" with Vanska is Neeme Jarvi with the Gotherburg Symphony Orchestra, who do a great job as well. It would be wise to invest in the 15-CD set than this one.