Search - Jean Sibelius, Lorin Maazel, Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra :: Sibelius: Symphonies Nos. 2 & 6

Scintillating Sixth, So-So Second

Timothy Dougal | Madison, Wi United States | 09/28/2002

(4 out of 5 stars)

"Due to the way record companies pair up the Sibelius symphonies, I found myself with good performances of all but the Sixth, so I took a chance on this budget buy from Sony. As far as that symphony, Maazel does an excellent, if unexpected, job. At first I found his approach a little more jagged than I was used to, but after a couple of listenings, I couldn't get enough of it. The Second is another story: Maazel starts off slow, and then rises to a kind of highly controlled adequacy, but not much more. This is a pity considering the mystical heights this can exhibit in the right hands. The orchestra plays well, and the recording job is first rate, so this disc is worth it for the Sixth."

Maazel at his most indifferent

Santa Fe Listener | Santa Fe, NM USA | 09/11/2007

(3 out of 5 stars)

"Lorin Maazel has had two gos as conductor of the Pittsburgh Symn., and one gets the idea that the second time around was pretty dismal. Certainly this is a dispirited (and dispiriting) Sym. #2 -- loggy, lacking in rhythmic bite, and noncommittal where it needs to be epic and heroic. I wonder why Maazel bothers to conduct works in which he basically sits on the sidelines and watches the scenery go by? The reviewer above is more impressed by the Sym. #6 rreading, but it seems cut form the same cloth to me -- at best it's pleasant and breezy. In all, this isn't a CD any lover of Sibelian should bohter with. If you must have Maazel's Sibelius, go for his early set on Decca with the Vienna Phil."