Customer Reviews

Sibelius: Tone Poems

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

 

 

I recently purchased this 3-disc set new for about 18 bucks, including shipping and handling. Each disc has over 70 mins of music. More importantly, the performances are evocative and highly emotional. The Gothenburg Symphony Orchestra (of Sweden, for those of you who might not know this) and Neeme Jarvi did a terrific job on the Sibelius Symphonies for the BIS label in the 80s. I have 'em all, and they are my favorite cycle.

These are more recent recordings done by Deutche Grammaphon, with somewhat different engineering, but equally satisfying sound (to me, at least). Purchasing this "Trio" was almost a no-brainer, given the price. Now that I have the set in hand (and in CD-player), I know that it was a good decision.

Whether you know nothing about Sibelius but want to hear terrific classical music-making, or you have some Sibelius and would like to hear some arguably definitive performance of the tone poems, this set is for you.

Enjoy, Adam.

I may be in a minority, but I think Sibelius is a far more successful composer of program music than of so-called absolute music. In fact, his most successful symphony, No. 2, has a definite program, and his most successful symphonic movement, the marvelous finale of Symphony No. 5, is also pictorial, supposedly inspired by a flight of geese and the bell-like music that their calls made as they passed overhead. So I believe these generously filled discs in the Trio Series present some of the best of orchestral Sibelius, including "Pohjola's Daughter," "En Saga," "The Oceanides," and "Tapiola." There are other favorites as well, of course, including "Finlandia," "Valse Triste," and "The Swan of Tuonela" (part of the spacious "Four Legends"), as well as some lesser-known (to non-Sibelians, anyway) masterworks such as "Luonnotar" and "Night Ride and Sunrise," a quirky, more interesting incarnation of the binary form that Sibelius tried out in the finale of his Third Symphony.

There's still more and more, including some music (such as "King Christian" and "The Bard") that is rarely heard but well worth hearing. In fact, if there are any clunkers here, I don't know of them. Sibelius emerges as a composer who rarely failed when inspired by literature, especially his beloved Kalevala, or the purely pictorial. Neemi Jarvi, whose baton is sometimes too fleet and whose interpretations sometimes skate along the surface of the music, is here inspired to give some of his finest interpretations (and there are many, many on CD). The Goteborg Orchestra has this music in its blood and proves the perfect medium for the dark vision of "The Four Legends," for the shimmer and sheen of "The Oceanides," or for the easy folksiness of "Karelia" and "King Christian." Fine, wide-ranging sound from DG as well. It's up-front but not oppressive, allowing woodwind and percussion detail to emerge with real clarity. Try "Night Ride and Sunrise" as an example; it's rarely sounded this alive in recording.

this is a great set of Sibelius's work. There are some of unknown as as well known pieces. I recommend this work to introduce people to Sibelius and Sibelian's as well. neeme jarvi is a master interpreter of Sibelius work and the orchestra is brillent.

This collection is funny in a way: I find the well known, or the "best" of Sibelius's tone poems in this recording quite lacking: there are better karelia suites, much better Tapiolas, Pohjola's daughters, Finlandias, Four Legends, et-all available elsewhere. However, the surprisingly good stuff here is the lesser known incidental music: King Christian and the selection from koulema is really great. Three stars from me.