3 of 5 people found the following review helpful:
3.0 out of 5 stars
Lovely playing, but the performance is soporific (and the timing stingy), August 23, 2007
This review is from: Sibelius: Symphony No. 2 (Audio CD)
You'd have to be a maniac for the Sibelius Second or for the Royal Concertgebouw to settle for a 44 min. CD, even if it does come in excellent SACD sound (which I listened to in regular two-channel stereo). Early in his career, when he put the Oslo Phil. on the musical map, Mariss Jansons scored a success with a vital, fresh account of this symphony. The new one is only a couple of minutes slower, but where's the life gone? Caution and elegance of expression, the hallmarks of this performance, are the last things Sibelius needs. He asks for epic sweep, a mystical conneciton with nature, and primordial strength. If Jansons has an inkling of this, he doesn't display it here. Given the number of cautious CDs Jansons has released so far on the RCO Live label, I wonder if the good people of Amsterdam aren't having second thoughts about his appointment.
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