Sibelius: Belshazzar's Feast; Everyman; The Countess's Portrait

A world premiere recording of any Sibelius work from around the time of the Fifth Symphony is important, and there is plenty of substance and dark, sustained, solemn beauty in the incidental music to Hofmannsthal’s Jedermann (Everyman). The earlier Belshazzar’s Feast similarly appears in full for the first time, while the recently unearthed, brief, poignant melodrama The Countess’s Portrait (1907) might have made more impact had its original poem been recited with it. Excellent performances from the Lahti team. Stephen Pettitt

Published: January 20, 2012 at 3:08 pm

COMPOSERS: Sibelius
LABELS: BIS
WORKS: Belshazzar’s Feast; Everyman; The Countess’s Portrait
PERFORMER: Lahti SO/Osmo Vänskä
CATALOGUE NO: CD-735 DDD

A world premiere recording of any Sibelius work from around the time of the Fifth Symphony is important, and there is plenty of substance and dark, sustained, solemn beauty in the incidental music to Hofmannsthal’s Jedermann (Everyman). The earlier Belshazzar’s Feast similarly appears in full for the first time, while the recently unearthed, brief, poignant melodrama The Countess’s Portrait (1907) might have made more impact had its original poem been recited with it. Excellent performances from the Lahti team. Stephen Pettitt

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