Violin Concerto Op 47 / Symphony No. 7, Op. 105 / Tapiola,Op. 112

Sibelius (Composer), Nils-Eric Fougstedt (Conductor), Sir Thomas Beecham (Conductor), Helsinki Philharmonic (Orchestra), violinist David Oistrakh (Performer) | Format: Audio CD

Product Details

• Performer: violinist David Oistrakh
• Orchestra: Helsinki Philharmonic
• Conductor: Nils-Eric Fougstedt, Sir Thomas Beecham
• Composer: Sibelius
• Audio CD (December 7, 1993)
• Number of Discs: 1
• Label: Ondine
• ASIN: B00000377T
• Also Available in: MP3 Download
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (1 customer review)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #619,449 in Music (See Top 100 in Music)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

1 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Clean sky. Cool clean lakes. Cool trees., April 20, 2007

By 

Joe Anthony "Joe Anthony" (Massachusetts, USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Violin Concerto Op 47 / Symphony No. 7, Op. 105 / Tapiola,Op. 112 (Audio CD)

I have always been interested in the music of Sibelius since I first heard "Finlandia" as a teenager. The author, William Saroyan, described his trip to Finland (where he met the composer Jean Sibelius) like so: "Clean sky. Cool clean lakes. Cool trees. Grass...Cool. Quiet. Blond. Blue Eyes. I don't know what the hell it is."-

Whatever, you certainly hear those images in these works presented on this CD. The music of Sibelius is very strong, masculine, yet Romantic without being especially Germanic or "Wagnerian". In some ways you can hear a little Russian influence like maybe Tchaikovsky, but not really. It is indeed a unique kind of music that does capture those images of the icy north and the midnight sun.

David Oistrakh is masterful, of course, in his treatment of the Violin Concerto as is the Finnish Radio Symphony Orchestra who lend powerful but not over-shadowing support. Sir Beechem, likewise, puts the right touch of English polish on the "Tapiola" and the underated and very moving Symphony #7. After all, Beechem was a champion of Sibelius, and the music of Sibelius was also very popular in England.

Comparisons for Violin Concerto: Francescatti/Bernstein; Perlman/Previn

Comparison for Symphony #7: Bernstein/VPO