Search - Sibelius, Berwald, Dorati :: Sinfonie Caprieuse

You'll treasure this

Mark McCue | Denver | 03/29/2002

(5 out of 5 stars)

"Antal Dorati and the Stockholm Philharmonic--if there ever was a force to be reckoned with for interpretive insight and execution, this was right up at the top.I won't go through all of the usual superlatives one has for Dorati. The orchestra is so crystalline, so poised and involved, that one is lost in the composers' creative processes. The Berwald is rapt and elegant, the Sibelius sweeping and visual. While the Sibelius won't absolutely transport you and transform you forever as does Paul Paray on Mercury, it is highly literate, heartfelt and genuine, free of eccentricity and exhibitionism.The cost of this CD is somewhat earth-returning, though...the material was once available in the US on low-price RCA Victorla vinyl, and you got Hilding Rosenberg's classic Voyage to America, to boot, and in better sound. What's the deal, I wonder? Still, if you don't have these performances, you should and this is a good way to get it. If you have the vinyl, pat yourself on the back for having the foresight. You already know how good you have it."