COMPOSERS: Sibelius
LABELS: Decca
WORKS: Symphony No. 1; Symphony No. 7
PERFORMER: Philharmonia Orchestra/Vladimir Ashkenazy
CATALOGUE NO: 436 473-2 DDD
Ashkenazy traverses the vast, frozen landscape of Sibelius’s First Symphony with exhilarating momentum,yet manages to keep a firm grip – until perhaps the last movement when the over-eager Philharmonia brass and percussion come close to running away with him. It’s an exciting and very well recorded performance, which brings out the colour of the wind writing in particular. The Seventh is even more impressive; broad, dramatic and awesomely powerful. David Michaels
Sibelius: Symphony No. 1; Symphony No. 7
Ashkenazy traverses the vast, frozen landscape of Sibelius’s First Symphony with exhilarating momentum,yet manages to keep a firm grip – until perhaps the last movement when the over-eager Philharmonia brass and percussion come close to running away with him. It’s an exciting and very well recorded performance, which brings out the colour of the wind writing in particular. The Seventh is even more impressive; broad, dramatic and awesomely powerful. David Michaels
Our rating
5
Published: January 20, 2012 at 2:35 pm