Sibelius Ormandy Bernstein - Sibelius Symphonies Nos 1 5 Romance for Strings (9 tracks) +Album Reviews

The two best for the price of one

Charles Emmett | Oroville, California (the boonies) | 07/30/2003

(5 out of 5 stars)

"Ah, to have Maestroes Bernstein and Ormandy together with Jean Sibelius on one recording. Marvelous!I would like to speak to one of the critics here. There was a mention of pedantic and unmoving passages in the Ormandy performance of the First. I would like to say that the First Symphony is a 'Winter' symphony. You can feel the cold and the wind and snow. So many 'loud-soft' passages (echos), so beautifully shaped here. There was no Spring here and it was as if Sibelius was wondering if there was ever going to be a spring. I had always rated the Ormandy performance above Maestro Bernstein in the First Symphony, but the opposite for the Fifth.Here Maestro Bernstein is at his interpretive best, espicially as a young man, in this recording. It shows maturity that I hear in his later recordings, and the clarity of the sound of Carnegie Hall is wonderful. The finale of the first movement is played as in no other recording, powerful and clear! The New York Philharmonic shines here.My only longing here is one that I have stated before; it is so sad that Ormandy and the PHO did not have a venue to make their wonderful sound come through in recordings. There were several early ('58-'59) that still sound wonderful and a few from the middle sixties and those with RCA, but the rest, though you knew the tone was there were not able to experience it.This recording is a must for the beginners classical music library. I recommend this recording highly. I would give it 7 stars if I could."

Second Best Recording of Sibelius's First Symphony!

Charles Emmett | 04/15/2004

(5 out of 5 stars)

"This CD contains the second best recording of Sibelius's First Symphony I've ever heard, second only to a live recording with Bernstein and the Vienna Philharmonic, now available on a DG 3-CD set. (Incidentally, Bernstein's other recording of this piece, with the NY Philharmonic--available on an import CD set, originally recorded for Sony--isn't nearly as good). Ormandy was one of the best Sibelius conductors out there and this recording of the First Symphony is probably his greatest Sibelius recording. The opening clarinet is hauntingly beautiful and the remainder of the first movement contains crackerjack excitement, with just the right tempos. The middle movements are executed flawlessly, but it's the final movement that really stands out. Ormandy draws out the moving "big tune" in a manner that other recordings(save the Bernstein/Vienna) miss. The Philadelphia strings have never sounded better. This is the ultimate "Romantic" recording of this symphony, one that every fan of this work must own.
Benstein's Fifth Symphony is amazing, with shattering climaxes and some of the most mindblowing brass I've ever heard!Another must-own for fans of this work. All in all, a desert-island disc if ever there was one. The budget price makes it a steal!"

Lenny is at his best

Charles Emmett | 11/12/2000

(5 out of 5 stars)

"This recording by the New Philharmonic of Sibelius' Fifth Symphony is one of the best Bernstein made on CBS Masterworks(now known as Sony). In the finale, the trombones play very well, something that was not alway the case during Bernstein's tenure. Ormandy does a very good job with the First Symphony. The price can't be beat and the sound is very, very good. Go for it!"

Marvelous Fifth; Prosaic First

Jeffrey Lee | Asheville area, NC USA | 03/05/2003

(4 out of 5 stars)

"The gem here is Bernstein's performance of the Sibelius Fifth. There is a sense of rightness, be it tempos, rhythms, attack and decay, mystery and, above all, grandeur. Actually, the kinds of idiosyncratic tendencies many associate with Bernstein's style of conducting don't really seem to be present here at all. One of the most pleasing aspects of his Fifth is how he and the New York Philharmonic beautifully articulate the sounds of woodwinds, strings and horns. Often, one has the feeling that the musical journey traverses windswept vistas, now and then projecting their glowing hues. Surely, this is Sibelius at his eloquent best.

In the First Symphony, I find Ormandy too deliberate in his shaping of the musical line, leaving the sense of forward progression and imaginativeness a bit stifled. I have the impression I'm listening to a tired man's view of Sibelius. Bernstein's Sibelius 1 is more attractive, and I don't know why Columbia did not include it here with his Fifth. My favorite First, however, is Maazel's with the Vienna Philharmonic. Here, the sounds and images of nature come into play with much greater freedom and character than with Ormandy. There is both more openness AND subtlety of expression. A real breath of fresh air. Also excellent is the discontinued Anthony Collins reading (with the Sibelius Seventh on Beulah). Some consider Maazel to be a bit more intense, while others may feel Collins is somewhat better balanced. You can't go wrong with either."

Buy if for the Fifth and then enjoy the First too!

Six Stringer | Midwest, USA | 06/11/2009

(5 out of 5 stars)

"Bernstein's NYPO recording of the masterpiece Fifth Symphony by Sibelius is legendary. His band played the last five minutes of the symphony in this recording as if their very lives depended upon the performance.

The brass at the end is absolutely out of this world. You must hear to experience and understand fully. Overwhelming. The trombones and all the brass for that matter play at a world-class level in the fifth. There is simply no competition here in the ending. I like Von Karajan's Philharmonia recording very much, but for different reasons. HVK can't duplicate Lenny and the NYPO!

If I knew I was going to die, I would want to go out with the following three recordings:

1) This one

2) Lenny's NYPO Mahler 6th

& 3) Mackerras' Mozart 39th

"

Search - Sibelius, Ormandy, Bernstein :: Sibelius: Symphonies Nos. 1 & 5 / Romance for Strings

CD Details

Synopsis

Similarly Requested CDs

CD Reviews