Customer Reviews

Sibelius: Symphonies Nos. 5 & 7; En Saga [Hybrid SACD]

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This is a review of the SACD surround layer of this disc.

I bought the original vinyl release back in 1976 of this recording. Then this recording of Sibelius' Symphony Nos. 5 and 7 was immediately praised as being a great passionate performance by Colin Davis and the Boston Symphony orchestra and the recording was praised as exceptional. Now Pentatone has re-mastered the original master tapes that were recorded in 4 channels including 2 ambient rear channels and have given us a 4 channel surround SACD. Now for the first time you can hear exactly what the original engineers intended us to hear using the best equipment avialable. Analog Tape hiss has been reduced to an almost negligible amount and once the music starts it becomes inaudible.

Colin Davis' interpretation is controlled yet tense and only when called for does he release the full volume of the Boston brass. The recording in SACD surround reveals even more of Boston Symphony Hall's ambiance which was a hallmark of this recording. Also detail and timbre of the instruments, the beautiful shimmer of the strings, as well as the deep guttural sounds of the bass tuba and string basses are revealed much better in this SACD surround version then in the regular CD version that came out in the late 1980's or early 1990's which I also have. SACDs forte is it's ability to reveal the true timbre of instruments because of it ultra high sampling frequency. SACDs also sound much smoother and more realistic to the ear as is the case in this SACD!!! This surround SACD also reveals the space around the orchestra as well as more of the reverberation from Boston's Symphony Hall. Then after you have listened to Symphonies 5 and 7 and you didn't think it could get any better, it does. The Tone Poem, "En Saga" was recorded in 1980 and is an even a better recording technically then the symphonies. This SACD is as good as the best SACDs being released today.

These recordings and performances of Sibelius' Symphonies and tone poems have gone down in the annals of history as one of the greatest performances and recordings of the 20th century and now we have it as close to the original as possible. Thank God for Pentatone!

Pentatone, please, Please, PLEASE re-master the rest of the Sibelius Symphony and Tone poem cycle on SACD, YES, I'm on my hands and knees begging

When Colin Davis recorded the complete Sibelius symphony series with the Boston Symphony back in the early-mid 1970s -- Sibelius: The Complete Symphonies 1 & Sibelius: The Complete Symphonies 2 -- it hit the classical music world with the force of a hurricane. Critics fell all over them selves heaping superlatives onto the set. And I was one of those for whom the set became a desert island choice. Since then Colin Davis has re-recorded the entire set with the London Symphony -- Sibelius: Syphonies Nos.1 - 7, Rakastava Op.14, etc.. I read the glowing reports of that set and acquired it, but found myself comparing it unfavorably with the earlier BSO set. The Boston Symphony was, in my opinion, a much superior orchestra to the 1990s LSO and, further, Philips gave it much more realistic sound. I still hold to that opinion.

What I hadn't realized at the time of its 1970s appearance was that the whole set had been recorded on LP in Philips's quadraphonic process, one in which four audio tracks were included. They issued the set in stereo and also in quadraphonic versions back then. I never owned quadraphonic equipment and thus never heard the multitrack version. Now Pentatone, a company founded by ex-Philips engineers, has reissued this CD from the original set in its four-track version, having converted it to SACD format. And it is an unqualified success. This disc of Symphonies 5 & 7 is, as all of Pentatone's are, a hybrid: it can be played on either plain stereo CD systems or by an SACD system. I've listened to it using both layers and it is superb either way.

The disc also includes what many consider Sibelius's finest non-symphonic orchestral work, 'En Saga', which Davis and the BSO recorded in 1980. It, too, sounds great and offers a convincing traversal of this great score.

I cannot recommend this reissue highly enough and can only hope that the entire set of the symphonies will be so reissued.

Scott Morrison

These are good performances by Davis and the BSO, the virtues of which have been well canvassed in other reviews. On balance, the performance of the 5th is the more memorable, a reading of craggy grandeur. Davis adopts a broadish tempo for the first movement, which he builds up to a very imposing conclusion.

The sound, at least in SACD stereo or standard CD layer, is impressive overall; there is a pleasing tangibility and depth (notice, for example, the lower strings at around the 2 minute mark of the first movement of the 5th). As I do not own the previous remasterings (available on Phillips Duo), I cannot, however, say whether there is a significant improvement in the sound over those remasterings.

A word of caution, however. There is a braying, somewhat unrefined quality to the sound of the trumpets and deep brass in the two Symphonies, bordering on coarseness. This is noticeable towards the conclusion of the 7th (tracks 7 & 8) and, to a lesser degree, towards the conclusion of the first and third movements of the 5th. To what extent this can be attributed to the engineering or to the actual quality or character of the BSO brass in 1975 I do not know, but I did not detect this in En Saga which was recorded 5 years later than the Symphonies.

In the early '70s Colin Davis and the Boston Symphony began to record a Sibelius cycle which was destined to become a benchmark set to which some are still compared today. At that time, Mr. Davis was well-know as a fine interpretor of the great British classics as well as the mostly complete canon of Berlioz works. Few were prepared for the searing intensity and soaring emotional involvement Davis brought to most of these readings. Symphonies # 5 and 7 were the first two to be released in 1975, and to justifiably great acclaim. Over the years, these recordings were released and re-released in stereo and mono on cassette and LP, on stereo CD and now, finally, in discrete quad sound on Hybrid SACD (plays in stereo on standard CD/DVD players)from the Pentatone RQR series. The four-channel recording (No center-channel or sub-woofer channels), derived from original without electronic manipulation to create extra tracks where none originally existed, puts to shame many a more recent recording in full 5.1 channel sound. The balances are superb with the rear channels adding just a hint of natural hall ambience without calling attention to themselves. The playing of the BSO is without reproach, recalling the sonority and sensitivity of the superb early stereo recordings by Ormandy and the Philadelphia on Columbia. Here's hoping that all the recordings in the Davis cycle were recorded in Quad and that some day soon they will all appear in the Pentatone RTR series. Highly recommended. Sibelius: Symphonies Nos. 5 & 7; En Saga [Hybrid SACD]

Having read many reviews of these performances, here and in various publications I ordered this disc with some interest.
I was loaned a copy of the complete set some time ago and my recollection is of Davis' rugged view of Sibelius. At that time my guide was solely the Karajan versions from DG, which were initially condemned as `arm-chair' Sibelius.
Since then I have acquired versions from Rattle, Davis (LSO), Jarvi Snr, Vanska and Segerstam.
Reacquaintance has confirmed my original view - rugged, imaginative and powerful especially when compared to his RCA and LSO sets. Though some of the latter are gripping performances.
I must agree with Mr Darcy, the sound of the brass is not at all pleasant, something I don't remember from before.
I hope that others in the cycle will be released as I enjoyed the vigor of Davis' approach here.

The 5th and 7th here are great pieces that require exceptional refinement, essentially Brucknerian, to pull off the big climaxes. The trumpet and low brass playing throughout both symphonies is quite poor. It sounds immature and careless. This is in stark contrast to En Saga which sounds great, the best version of this work I have found. I prefer Karajan for the 5th and 7th, but En Saga here is a triumph.

Colin Davis recorded the complete cycle of Sibelius symphonies in the 1970's with the Boston Symphony in their Symphony Hall for Philips and they remain one of many collectors' favorites cycles, Sibelius or otherwise. Over 30 years later, the folks at Pentatone have cleaned up the sound and re-done it in SACD. While I'm not really an audiophile or technician, I do appreciate a real improvement over the originals and I can only dream what it must have been like to hear Davis live in Boston doing these works. Stunning!! We used to say that if you wanted some very impressive sound, pick up an Ozawa recording with the BSO at home, on DGG. I have several oIf their LP's and I do agree.
Still, for me, the issue has always been the music, dispite all the gagetry involved. What is Sibelius trying to say to us? Probably simpiler than we think. I used to think Sibelius should only be listened to in the winter, on a snowy day, no less. Take him on a walk-man into a pine forrest or at the edge of a frozen pond or small lake. I've outgrown my youthful subjectivity, sort of.
With Colin Davis at the healm of this sparkling ensemble, can any of us resist the temptation to close our eyes and let our minds be transported to the wilderness locale? I live in NE Washington state, about 85 minles North of Spokane and in less than an hour I can get to "Sibelius-land," forrests, mountains, rivers and lakes. No crowds, no sirens no incoming commercial aircraft. What a blessing! Anyone honestly think I don't have some Sibelius running through my 10 year old Park Avenue's premium sound cd player? I'll drive my 'grampa car" till the wheels fall off. Can you blame me?
All this brings me to this point. Sibelius, I think, is one of our most unfortunately underplayed masters. His symphonic style is quite unique, his rythyms are facinating and often deceptively tricky, his broad sweeping melodies are breath taking. But his finest moments are his quietest. As is true with my other favorites, Bruckner, Mahler, Brahms, these subtleties are precious gems that I keep going back to. The Everyman of the massed strings or brass is one of the conmposer's hallmarks, true, but those whispers of solo or small groups of instruments touch me like no other. Over 40 years later, I still am left speechless.
Davis understands this, very well. His 5th is full of all that grand nobility we're used to hearing, particularly the 1st movement's wonderful hold on the tension before the full thrust of the BSO is released into a snow-covered, sun-drenched mountain clearing. Am I dreaming? I think so.
The 7th is even better, and it reminds me of the sort of left limp feeling I get after the Adagio from Mahler's 10th. But, for very different reasons.
If you don't have Sibelius cycle in you collection, this would be a fine addition. Just, try not to get too distracted!