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Here is an ideal box of Sibelius's music. It doesn't include Symphony #3 or #6, but I'll talk about that below. It does include all of his RCA and Sony Stereo recordings, and the repetitions of Symphonies 1, 2 and 7 are fascinating. Missing from this box from Sony is the Oistrakh concerto recording (he recorded it with both Ormandy and Rozhdestvensky), and the EMI Lemminkainen Suite. Luckily I have both of those, and they fit nicely into this box.
The great conversation that any of us would have loved to hear was one between Sibelius and Mahler. Sibelius said that a symphony must be the total expression of logic. Mahler answered with his famous line, "Ein Symphonie muss die Welt umfassen." A symphony must embrace the world. How those points differ is well demonstrated here.
Some conductors tug and pull Sibelius, trying to make his symphonies dramatic - which they already are. Those recordings wear thin quickly.
There are faster conductors, too. Beecham, a noted Sibelian, has a fast Symphony #2, almost too fast. But it's exciting. Ormandy does not keep a metronomic beat throughout a movement, but he doesn't tug and pull either. Without fail here, he highlights the "logic" of the music, making it build to a climax or whisper beautifully. He had at the time one of the greatest orchestras there were, and they follow him brilliantly.
Another reviewer mentions Ormandy was viewed as a "light-weight" conductor. He was great at the lighter fare. But Karelia or Finlandia are not given light-weight readings. Ormandy knew this music and how to make it live.
Symphony #1 (1978 version) starts the set, and some of it is surprisingly slow. But every tempo I didn't expect in this set always gets into my blood and moves me to accept it and love it. This set will take a few more hearings before I get where Ormandy is coming from, but I already know I get a lot from these performances that don't come from newer conductors.
Missing are Symphony #3 and #6. Lots has been written about #3, about how difficult it is to understand or how hard it is to bring off. I don't find that at all. The piece is of almost classical purity. The shifting beats of the second movement are pliant and almost dancing. This made several writers think of it as both scherzo and andante. But clearly the last movement is the Scherzo and Finale in one. Why Ormandy did not recored this at all is baffling. I wish he had. #6 is much harder to understand, but considering Ormandy's successes with all the others, I know his recording would have been revelatory.
My admiration for Ormandy, even in Sibelius, stems from his non-interventionist way of conducting. Of course he's interpreting, but I never have the feeling he is super-imposing his "ideas" over those of the composer.
BTW, the sound is top drawer all the way.
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RECOMMENDED BY THE WORLD'S FOREMOST AUTHORITY ON THE MUSIC OF SIBELIUS + Finlandia Lyrics
Forty years after Eugene Ormandy's death, the conductor is dismissed as a lightweight by many critics. But this was not always the case. The World's Foremost Authority on the Music of Jean Sibelius (1865-1957) was an admirer of Eugene Ormandy. [the photos below show Ormandy visiting the World's Foremost Authority.] Overdue for re-evaluation. Almost all of Ormandy's stereo Columbia and RCA recordings of Sibelius are in this box (recorded 1957-1980) -- Sony forgot Ormandy's 1959 Columbia stereo recording of the Violin Concerto with David Oistrakh * Two later versions (with Isaac Stern and Dylana Jensen) are included. Also missing are the mono recordings (1935-1954). This is a shame - those are the recordings that Sibelius was so enthusiastic about. COLUMBIA + RCA STEREO RECORDINGS (in this box): Symphony 1 = 1962 Columbia, 1976 RCA Symphony 2 = 1957 Columbia, 1972 RCA Symphony 4 = 1978 RCA Symphony 5 = 1975 RCA Symphony 7 = 1960 Columbia, 1975 RCA Finlandia (standard version) = 1968 Columbia Finlandia (choral version) = 1959 Columbia, 1972 RCA Oceanides = 1976 RCA Pohjola's Daughter = 1976 RCA En Saga = 1963 Columbia, 1975 RCA Tapiola = 1976 RCA Valse triste = 1959 Columbia, 1973 RCA Karelia Suite = 1968 Columbia, 1975 RCA Karelia Overture = 1977 RCA Lemminkäinen Suite: Swan of Tuonela = 1960 Columbia, 1973 RCA Violin Concerto = 1969 Columbia (Isaac Stern), 1980 RCA (Dylana Jensen) - MISSING 1959 Columbia (David Oistrakh) EMI STEREO RECORDING (not in this box) Lemminkäinen Suite (Four Legends from the Kalevala) = 1978 ** CLOUMBIA + RCA MONO RECORDINGS (not in this box) see the Comment dated November 13, 2015 FINLANDIA This release clears up some confusion about Ormandy's three stereo recordings of Finlandia. Finnish poet V.A. Koskenniemi added lyrics to Finlandia in 1941, turning it into a patriotic anthem. Sibelius gave it his blessing in 1942, so the "choral version" is technically legit. Ormandy recorded the standard orchestral version in 1968 (CD8, track 1) He recorded the choral version twice - Most impressively with the Mormon Tabernacle Choir in 1959 (CD8, track 8) By comparison, the unnamed choir used by RCA in 1972 (CD2, track 7) is pretty bland. All three are in this box. English Text used by Ormandy (deleting reference to Finland): "On great, lone hills, where tempests brood and gather, Primeval Earth, against primeval sky, We, faring forth, possessed by fervent longing, Have found a throne, eternal and high, Have knelt at last in wordless adoration, Till fire and whirlwind have both gone by. With ardent song we greet the golden morning. By faith upborne, remember not the night. The whole wide world, triumphant hails the dawning. God walks abroad in garments of might, The hills, behold, are now a path of splendor, Transfigured all, and all crowned with light." [for the original patriotic text, see the Comment dated November 13, 2015 ] PACKAGING AND SOUND: Eight CDs in cardboard jackets (not original jacket format) in a cardboard box. No booklet - this is one of Sony's super budget boxes. Track listings and recording dates are on the back of each jacket - the identical photo of Ormandy is on the front of all eight jackets. Unimaginative. The box claims "24-bit high resolution audio" - no information on who did the remastering. The RCA recordings are probably the existing 24-bit Japanese XRCD transfers (I can't be certain without the identity of the remastering engineer). Everything sounds fine to me. POINTS OF INTEREST -- Three Sibelius specialists: Herbert von Karajan never recorded Symphony 3. Sir Thomas Beecham never recorded Symphonies 3 and 5. Eugene Ormandy never recorded Symphonies 3 and 6. What's wrong with Symphony 3? -- One work of Sibelius was new to Ormandy's repertoire in the 1970s: The Karelia Overture Op.10 (not to be confused with the better known Karelia Suite Op.11) An absolutely gorgeous performance and recording (1975 RCA). Every other recording of this rarity sounds anemic by comparison. -- The sound of the RCA recordings is a lot better than I remembered. The 1970s were a bad decade for RCA: Dynagroove + Dynaflex LP pressings. Yecch. I now find most of the RCA stereo recordings an improvement over their Columbia predecessors (no need to take my word for it - Sony gives you both versions). Where there is duplication, the 1972-1980 RCA recordings (Symphonies 1,2,7) are two to four percent slower than the 1957-1969 Columbia recordings. Barely noticeable. Exception: the 1980 Violin Concerto with Dylana Jenson is a lot slower (in the first two movements) than Ormandy's 1969 recording with Isaac Stern (see next paragraph) -- Dylana Jenson was a child prodigy - a student of Nathan Milstein. Tchaikovsky Competition Silver Medalist at age 17, playing the Sibelius Concerto. She made her adult debut in Carnegie Hall at age 19, playing the same Concerto - Ormandy conducted. Three days later, she and Ormandy recorded it (the only DDD recording in this box). Compared with the Stern/Ormandy recording from 1969, Jenson stresses the lyricism - at least in the first two movements (the first movement is daringly drawn out). The 1959 Oistrakh/Ormandy recording (not in this box) is in the middle. Timings for the Finale are virtually identical. Stern ------ 14:16 -- 7:35 -- 7:21 Oistrakh -- 14:53 -- 8:20 -- 7:26 Jenson --- 16:22 -- 8:33 -- 7:17 -- With the exception of the Karelia Overture and two of three Finlandias (1959 choral and 1968 orchestral), none of these recordings are my absolute first choice, but everything is in the top ten percent. Eight CDs for $15. Hard to resist. Ormandy was not a high profile Sibelius interpreter (unlike Late Bernstein and Late Karajan). These are fairly straightforward performances by a spectacular orchestra. Rachmaninov and even Shostakovich shared Sibelius' enthusiasm for Eugene Ormandy. Two more boxes that Sony could give us. I hope they include booklets this time. ------------------------------------------------------ CONDUCTORS RECOMMENDED BY SIBELIUS: In addition to Ormandy, eight additional conductors received the blessing of the World's Foremost Authority on the Music of Sibelius: (which ought to count for something) See my comment dated November 13, 2015. ------------------------------------------------------ * Oistrakh/Ormandy 1959 Columbia stereo recording of the Violin Concerto = Tchaikovsky: Violin Concerto / Sibelius: Violin Concerto ** Ormandy's 1978 EMI stereo recording of the Lemminkäinen Suite = Sibelius: Lemminkainen Suite, Tapiola - or - Sibelius: Four Legends from the Kalevala
Top reviews from the United States
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- Reviewed in the United States on September 9, 2016
Top reviews from other countries
- Richard Lee WallaceReviewed in Canada on November 8, 2015
Ormandy's classic Sibelius, almost complete
- Lin AdmirerReviewed in Canada on March 27, 2017
Get it for Dylana Jenson's fabulous recording of the Violin Concerto
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