COMPOSERS: Sibelius
LABELS: EMI Studio Plus
WORKS: Finlandia; The Swan Of Tuonela; En saga; Karelia Suite; Tapiola
PERFORMER: Berlin PO/Herbert von Karajan
CATALOGUE NO: CDM 7 64331-2 ADD/DDD (1977, 1981)
Tempo and attack in Sibelius are critical. Play his music too fast and it loses stature, too slowly and it loses cohesiveness. Karajan’s Sibelius was always a mixed bag, and Studio Plus’s anthology inclines to support this view. Tapiola, for example, expansive and climactic though it is, never really catches fire. And should Karelia be quite so ponderous, or En saga so cheerfully flippant? Ates Orga
Sibelius: Finlandia; The Swan Of Tuonela; En saga; Karelia Suite; Tapiola
Tempo and attack in Sibelius are critical. Play his music too fast and it loses stature, too slowly and it loses cohesiveness. Karajan’s Sibelius was always a mixed bag, and Studio Plus’s anthology inclines to support this view. Tapiola, for example, expansive and climactic though it is, never really catches fire. And should Karelia be quite so ponderous, or En saga so cheerfully flippant? Ates Orga
Our rating
3
Published: January 20, 2012 at 2:36 pm