Search - Sibelius :: Sibelius: Symphonies Nos. 4 & 5

Two famous readings, Sibelius on the grand scale

Santa Fe Listener | Santa Fe, NM USA | 02/21/2008

(5 out of 5 stars)

"Karajan had a lifelong affinity for the music of Sibelius, which he played in the grand manner, not the only way to approach Sibelius, or even the most authentic, but impressive nevertheless. No one else has made the Fourth Sym. sound so menacing, mysterious, and even terrifying -- for most interpreters it's simply an enigma that they struggle to come to terms with. I'm not sure Karajan entirely solves the riddle, but the sheer power and glory of the Berlin Phil. sweep the listener off his feet. The same is true of the Fifth, which Karajan more or less owned during his lifetime. It's played with total concentration, and you can't tear your attention away.



These recrdings were made during Karajan's temporary defection from DG in the Seventies. You can get these two works in mono with the Philharmonia Orch. under him, also on EMI when Karajan first worked for producer Walter Legge, or in stereo on DG from the Sixties, which amounts to the same interpretation but in sound that's not quite as good. All are magnetic accounts; these EMI versions are on the grandest scale, if that makes a difference. To some, Karajan's way with Sibelius sounds too overpowering. For them, smaller scale versions from Osmo Vanska and Paavo Berglund will be preferable. However, I keep Karajan's recordings around as one of my touchstones for greatness. Not for nothing did the aged composer marvel at the mono version of the Fourth, declaring it the best he'd ever heard."

Big and Meaty Sibelius

Moldyoldie | Motown, USA | 06/14/2008

(5 out of 5 stars)

"Probably Sibelius' least "accessible" symphony to the novice listener, his Fourth, and one of his most popular, the Fifth, are paired here with thoroughly winning and effective performances all around! Karajan and the Berliners effect the desolate opening of the Fourth with the most unjarring sonority to be heard in this work -- the double-basses emanating from silence with gentle moroseness, not with brazen foreboding a la Maazel and most others. From there, we are led across the mostly dark musical landscape with a very effective miscellany of textures and dynamics, some well-timed and uniquely executed dissonances, and a feeling that the struggle to effect a mostly impalpable but substantive expression is being brought to bear by dedicated champions. I suppose one could quibble about the seeming terseness of the ending, but when one has just experienced such an overwhelmingly committed performance, it is just that, a quibble. Overall, this is certainly one of the most convincing performances of the Fourth I've yet heard!



The Fifth is presented with a refreshing objectivity and inevitabilty; Karajan and company build to the powerful crescendo between first and second movements with an assurance hardly exceeded in my experience; phrases emanate expertly from one to the next; the entire symphony is brought home in a technical and expressive fashion that should be the envy of even the native Finnish performances that I've heard on record. Whether in matters of phrasing, tempo, or dynamics; nothing sounds extreme or forced, only natural. (The pianissimo string tremolo is chillingly portrayed!) I could never understand the necessity of the protracted spacing of the final chords heard in most performances; I suppose it's so marked in the score and carries some arcane significance, but Karajan effects them, as he does most everything throughout the entire symphony, as a statement arising inevitably from what was heard immediately preceding. To me, it sounds musically perfect!



The recording from the mid-'70s is clear and vivid with nary a hint of harshness, with the possible exception of certain powerful tutti fortissimos. However, I found nothing so objectionable as to preclude my unequivocal recommendation for this bargain priced re-release. Just realize that this is Sibelius with plenty of meat on its bones."

Sibelius Sympony Nos 4 & 5

Michael J. Cook | Skokie, IL | 09/16/2008

(5 out of 5 stars)

"Herbert von Karajan was a noted interpreter of the music of Jean Sibelius.

It's a shame that neither EMI nor Deutsche Grammophon ever got to a recording of the 3rd Symphony. But, von Karajan was at his best in this. The 4th is a moody piece--the influence of Tchaikovsky is notable, but von Karajan had a way with the Berlin Philharmonic to get the listener to appreciate it's foreboding insights. The recording of the 5th is my all time favorite. Whenever I play it on my car stereo I always push the volume up for the conclusion. Finland is hilly, but not mountainous. When I listen to this, I can see von Karajan (the Austrian mountain man) conducting from the peaks."