Search - Jean Sibelius, Leif Segerstam, Helsinki Philharmonic Orchestra :: Sibelius: Symphonies Nos. 3 & 5

Unmissable 5th

William Ellis | Atlanta, GA USA | 03/04/2005

(5 out of 5 stars)

"The little I heard of Segerstam's earlier Sibelius symphony recordings, on Chandos, din't convince me that he was a distinguished interpreter. Distinctive, yes, with some very slow tempos, but to me it didn't come together. Well, that has changed completely.



This 3rd has some odd tempo choices and some instrumental balances that seem slightly 'off' - but it also has conviction and coherence that are missing from most interpretations. Kamu, Davis' latest, and most of all Vanska are not surpassed, but this is a thought-provoking rendition to complement your favorite.



The gem of this disc is the 5th. Talk about Romantic! Segerstam gets everything right, but more than that, he and the orchestra seem to live this music. I've never before had such a sense of connection with Sibelius' argument and with his emotions. The performance is built as a whole rather than having high and low points, and those chords at the end feel to me like the inevitable conclusion rather than the unsatisfying oddity that they can be. Until now, Karajan's late 70s EMI recording was my favorite 5th, but Segerstam's my man now. If this symphony is up your alley, you owe it to yourself to hear this overwhelmingly beautiful performance."

It seems I've hitched my wagon to Segerstam's Sibelius star.

Bob Zeidler | Charlton, MA United States | 11/30/2004

(5 out of 5 stars)

"It began innocently enough, when I first heard Leif Segerstam and the Helsinki Philharmonic Orchestra perform Sibelius's incidental music to Shakespeare's "The Tempest," combined with two seldom-heard tone poems ("The Oceanides" and "Night Ride and Sunrise"). I was impressed more than enough so that, when Ondine later released a CD containing Sibelius's 1st and 7th Symphonies, it was just natural to add them to my then-small collection of Sibelius works by this conductor, orchestra and label. (Segerstam had earlier recorded the symphonies, with a different orchestra - the Danish Radio Orchestra - on a different label [BIS], but I had not heard any.) As far as I was concerned, this was some of the best Sibelius work I had ever heard, and it looked to me like Segerstam was on a roll. Next came another Ondine release, this time coupling the 2nd and 6th Symphonies (a CD I have yet to comment on).



This brand new release of the 3rd and 5th Symphonies has temporarily distracted me from that 2nd/6th Symphony assignment, and for good reason: not that this release is at a quantum level higher than that 2nd/6th one, which is equally fine and "all of a piece" with his Sibelius work on Ondine to date, but more because these two symphonies (the 3rd and 5th) do represent some interesting challenges that Segerstam meets heads-on and succeeds remarkably well.



The 3rd Symphony, along with the 6th on the previous release, are probably my two favorite Sibelius works in the symphonic genre. Relative to the other five symphonies, they are smaller in scale (perhaps explaining why they are frequently coupled on CDs, although they're not here) and pose interesting interpretational challenges if they are to be properly realized.



It seems to me that, given the spareness of the materials found in the 3rd Symphony, a key to interpretational success lies at least in part in carefully shaping the phrases. The actual notes, in and of themselves, hardly suggest the difficulty of properly realizing the work: one gets the sense that this is an "easy" work for an orchestra to perform, at least at some level of mediocrity. But it is a rather difficult work to realize effectively.



Segerstam, I think, succeeds on every level. His is a reading of finely nuanced control of dynamics and tempo and carefully shaped phrasing. Particularly felicitous is his - and the musicians' - way with the woodwind chorales that make up a fair bit of the work; these chorales are rendered with a fine sense of plangency. (The principal clarinetist, for one, is particularly outstanding.) And, in the concluding pages, Segerstam makes a strong case for this as a "logical" ending, whereas in lesser hands it is frequently simply abrupt.



The 5th Symphony presents fewer such challenges (at least until, again, the concluding pages): much of the work "plays itself." Notwithstanding, Segerstam's reading is one of "logical inevitability" as the music grows organically from the motivic cells that are a hallmark of Sibelius's compositional style. Even more than in the 3rd Symphony, the plangency of the individual orchestral choirs - again, the woodwinds, but also (and especially) the brass - is outstanding. And Segerstam paces the closing measures, with their famous "luftpauses," better than any I've heard.



The Helsinki Philharmonic Orchestra could be said to be Sibelius's "home field advantage," and Ondine provides them with crystal-clear sound that readily permits one to follow all the instrumental lines.



This Segerstam cycle represents the fifth - and probably final - Sibelius cycle for me. (Earlier ones include Anthony Collins on British Decca, Colin Davis with the Boston Symphony, Vladimir Ashkenazy, again on Decca, and a rather fine budget cycle on Naxos, with Petri Sakari and the Icelandic Symphony Orchestra, a true "sleeper.") It is the finest cycle I've yet heard, and I eagerly await the final installment of the 4th Symphony. Hopefully its filler will include either "En Saga" or "Tapiola" to match the darkness of the 4th. Actually, both works *should* fit, in the event anyone from Ondine is reading this review. :-)



Bob Zeidler"

An inspired Third and very good Fifth

Santa Fe Listener | Santa Fe, NM USA | 11/08/2007

(5 out of 5 stars)

"The general drift of the reviews here has been to focus on Segerstam's account of the Sibelius Fifth. But it is the most recorded of the symphonies, and I've heard such sublime versions from Karajan (3 recordings), Bernstein (especially his NY Phil. account on Sony), and Salonen (also Sony) that this one feels a bit lacking. Segerstam brings the woodwinds far forward and plays Sibelius' interwoven lines as counterpoint rather than as a seamless buildup to an overwhelming climax. Maybe Segerstam's intent was to give us a smaller, more detailed tapestry.



But his approach to the Sibelius Third entirely won me over. This work is the emotional opposite of the Fifth, a creeping glacier as opposed to a molten lava flow. The melodies are cramped into a small range, the bass line is repetitive and static to the point of stuttering obsession. Within this self-enclosed fraemwork, few conductors have found the key to releasing the warmth lying beneath the surface. Segerstam does just that with his emotionally direct, at times almost blunt reading, and by bringing the woodwinds far forward again, he emphasizes orchestral color. My attention was captured from beginning to end (here I exaggerate a little -- the second movement, always a plodder, isn't magically transformed).



In all, this is another fine installment in Segerstam's complete Sibleius cycle with the Helsinki Phil, but it's not quite the revelation one finds in his First and Seventh, with the Second and Sixth not far behind."