Customer Reviews

Sibelius, Jean

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

 

 

Sibelius' 5th symphony is not easy to bring off, with its huge contrasts of darkness and light, hushed mystery and blazing triumph. To my ears Yoel Levi does just about everything right and shows a fine understanding of this technically and emotionally complex music, and with superlative sound, this is the most enjoyable 5 I have yet heard. The symphony comes off extremely differently in the hands of some other conductors - compare with Karajan's famous 60s version, for example - but those who like their Sibelius dark, yet glowing, with crystalline air and granite underfoot will enjoy this disc.

The 1st symphony has never stirred me in the quite the same way, but I find it difficult to imagine a finer performance than this.

This disc won a Special Award -- Choc du Monde de la Musique (France). Symptomatic of the deserved-prestige gained by the Atlanta Symphony and its music director Yoel Levi (1988-2000, now Music Director Emeritus), this recording is not to be overlooked among fine recordings of these Sibelius Symphonies nos. 1 & 5.

True, this may not be as ardent as Levi's reading of Sibelius' 2nd Symphony, but lost cause it's not. On the 1st Symphony, Levi stands back giving the orchestra the room to ruminate over the opening movement; a tour-de-force opening. The scherzo is animated with a lightly unbalanced, wandering feel. I will fault Levi during the slower, quiet passages. His back-seat-driver technique sounds at times as if he's nodding off. He regains consciousness for the 5th, but both symphonies do suffer from a dreamy, highly romanticized rendering. The sonics, however, are top notch and the disc can be recommended based on the opening movement of the 1st Symphony alone.

OK--the recording by Telarc is as perfect as usual. But the performance of both symphonies here is REALLY weird. Especially the First--which lacks any momentum or suspense of any kind. The highs and lows are extremely even, and the overall pacing is too slow. I don't mind the slow pace so much--but there's no variety as marked in the original manuscript! Even Bernstein didn't take these kind of liberties. Levi just missed it. UNLIKE his Sibelius Symphony 2, which is one of the best recordings and performances of its kind.