#SIBELIUS STRING QUARTET INTIMATE VOICES SERIES#

The Fourth Symphony is in the hands of Beecham and the LPO, a famous recording for which Beecham and producer Walter Legge consulted the composer on various points, including the sanction of a glockenspiel rather than tubular bells in the finale - where the score’s “Glocken.” is ambiguous. They offer in particular an impressive account of the still rather neglected Night Ride and Sunrise. Adrian Boult, who played a lot of Sibelius together at the time. Following that on disc 3 we have three more short works in the hands of the then newly formed BBC Symphony Orchestra and the young Dr.

The tone poems have the same dramatic qualities, Pohjola’s Daughter is treated with great narrative flair, and Tapiola is a terrifying evocation of the forest god - don’t listen to it on an iPod when walking in the woods. The point is that despite these Kajanus timings, the works never sound rushed, despite occasional evidence that the players in the 1930s found them a challenge. Osmo Vänskä, when asked in an interview about his own swift tempi for the First Symphony, said of the finale “It’s crotchet = 104, but no one takes it that fast apart from Kajanus … Sibelius lived long enough to have changed his mind if he felt it was wrong.” As for the Fifth Symphony, I don’t know a modern version which gets it under the half hour as Kajanus does, but Saraste’s and Vänskä’s four versions get close. He also tends still to be among the swiftest on disc, even after so many subsequent rivals have had the chance to learn from him. Kajanus at some points uses more rubato than we hear now, in keeping with the conducting style of the day. The symphonies have an impetus which has become rare, transitions - so crucial in these works - which sound inevitable because almost imperceptible, and a feeling of nobility - especially in No.5 - that has formed our image of the composer ever since. From the opening clarinet solo of the First Symphony to the final chord of Tapiola, his conducting exudes idiomatic authority. He died in 1933 and other conductors took up the baton for the EMI series, but these are still among the best of all the versions of these particular works. He set down these definitive versions of symphonies 1, 2, 3 and 5, the outer movements from the Karelia Suite, Pohjola’s Daughter, Belshazzar’s Feast and Tapiola.

Kajanus founded the Helsinki Philharmonic and led them for fifty years, was a close friend of Sibelius and his personal choice for the recording of these works.

Robert Kajanus was hardly less significant than Sibelius himself in the creation of the Finnish orchestral tradition that has led to a succession of fine conductors coming from Finland ever since. The box is inexpensive, the transfers are successful, and the performances are still among the most important of any. There is a multi-lingual booklet with a four-page essay by Robert Layton, but no texts or translations for Luonnotar or the five songs. The seven CDs are in cardboard sleeves, each with the work listings, timings and recording data printed on the back. The most important recordings, those of the symphonies and tone poems from Kajanus, Schnéevoigt and Beecham, have been available before and are mostly still available on other labels. Warner has added a seventh CD devoted to chamber music and songs. This is the first time that all the orchestral recordings made for EMI Classics' Sibelius project between 19 have been gathered together (six CDs in all).

#SIBELIUS STRING QUARTET INTIMATE VOICES SERIES#

In the 1930s the Columbia Gramophone Company (later EMI) undertook a subscription series of the major works of Jean Sibelius, initially funded by the Finnish government. Historical Recordings and Rarities 1928-1948 Jean Sibelius Sibelius String Quartets Intimate Voices CD Australian Release.Support us financially by purchasing this from Item: 225928971848 Jean Sibelius Sibelius String Quartets Intimate Voices CD Australian Release. Location: Rosemeadow, New South Wales, AU,

Sibelius string quartet intimate voices