Colin Davis Conducts Sibelius

This is Davis' second Sibelius cycle, and he redid it yet again on the LSO Live label. This cycle (and I've heard a lot of them) easily stands with the best - riveting performances, great recorded sound, led by a mature Sibelius aficionado who had been working on probing the depths of this music for decades since his first cycle with the Boston SO. I'm not saying this is necessarily better than that (also) 5-star cycle, but the increase in maturity and depth-of-thought are apparent. The 7th symphony (my favorite) is superb.The recorded sound is better too. There might be some aural trickery going on here - the sound is so clear that is might not sound as "powerful" as the first set, but trust me, the power is there. But first set has freshness that is hard to beat, but hopefully I am giving you the parameters by which to judge - you won't go wrong with either cycle. Haven't heard enough of his later LSO live cycle, but I can tell you the 7th symphony is quite excellent.And the price this one is going for makes it a near steal.

VERY fine recordings!

Colin Davis' traversal of the the Sibelius symphonies has always been one of my two favorite cycles -- however, it's the one first one he did, with the Boston Symphony, that I'm referring to. These performances with the London Symphony, the second Sibelius set he recorded, as a whole just don't rise to the level of the first, which are also available in a budget set from Decca. One's response to a musical performance is inherently going to be subjective, and no doubt many will disagree with me, but I will stick with Davis and the Boston Symphony over Davis with the London Symphony -- either in these RCA renditions or the later set he did for the LSO's own label. There's a smoothness and suaveness in the Boston recordings that seems to me lacking in the London ones. (And if I want more roughly-hewn Sibelius, I'll turn to Segerstam's set with the Helsinki Philharmonic on Ondine.) Davis' passing is to be greatly regretted, and his career something to be cherished. His Sibelius moments, however, are in my layman's estimation best represented by the Boston cycle, not this one.

Excellent recording but no liner notes, no booklet.

Verified Purchase in the UKThis set, recorded from 1992-2000, and presented in excellent remastered 24 bit sound is a serious competitor in what is now a very competitive field. Not least, Davis has his earlier set with the Boston and the later set with the LSO on its own label to contend with. This current set under consideration has the advantage of offering a more comprehensive coverage of Sibelius’ orchestral output and at a very tempting price.There are also highly competitive sets including those by Berglund (3), Vanska and Maazel whose Blu-ray version is a huge improvement over the previous editions. This is not to forget the considerable number of outstanding single issues including Gibson’s LSO 5th with Karelia from the late 1950’s and sounding newly minted in its 24 bit remastered sound. The Blu-ray concert performances by Lintu are also exceptional and should not be ignored. They come with excellent visuals and a state-of-the-art surround sound option.Regardless of all the above this set is still a clear front-runner and far too good for collectors to ignore. The only negative comments I have noted from other reviewers is the apparent backward balance of the trumpets in Karelia. This is not really fair to the recording or Davis as the trumpets play the main melody twice and in this case the first statement is kept well below the level of the second statement in order to heighten the dynamic contrast. Another similar point worth mentioning is that the playback level for just Symphony 5 benefits considerably by raising the playback level by about 1 decibel otherwise the effect of this dramatic work is too subdued and therefore artistically damaging.Comparing the three sets of recordings by Davis it is clear that this has the best sound with more natural balances and tonal quality than the earlier Boston set and far more vitality and dramatic bite than the later own-label LSO set. Davis was a marginally younger man in this earlier LSO set and that really shows up in the added vitality of the interpretation as well as the added interpretive bite and orchestral delivery with appropriatly matching recorded sound. Indeed, the whole set offers performances of considerable drive and one is made fully aware of how very good an orchestra the LSO was both corporately and as individuals at the time of this second set. Like many other frequently recorded orchestras the LSO hit its peak in the late 1950's and early 1960's and has not deviated since.Regardless of how much duplication is caused by purchasing this set, and in this personal case it is considerable, this must be a priority temptation for all enthusiastic collectors.

I've never been a fan of Sir Colin's fêted BSO Sibelus cycle on Philips. I've always found the performances to be a bit low-key with recorded sound being a bit opaque.His mid-1990s remakes on RCA with the LSO have generally fared less well critically than his Boston cycle. Personally, I find the recorded sound much improved in this RCA edition, and the inclusion of Kullervo is certainly a bonus as well, not to mention that the 7-CD set is selling for under $14. Interpretively, Sir Colin's approach remains not necessarily my cup of tea. It's still low-key overall, even if there's more snarl in the brass this time around.What I find more disconcerting are the slips in precision that arise at strange points throughout the cycle, most noticeably at the beginning of exposed phrases where the strings sometimes don't enter with unanimity. It's the kind of thing one would let pass in live performance but that can become annoying on repeat hearings of a recording. In addition, Sir Colin makes a few interpretive choices on the orchestral balance front that tend to obscure voicings and details that I kind of expect to hear. On the other hand, he brings out other details in a refreshing way that does add a touch of the unique to the performances.I give this set 3.5 stars, based on the music, the value and the overall strengths of the cycle. It's just difficult to rate it any higher in light of the current market, which is very competitive, and in which Maazel's similarly priced Sony set with Pittsburgh sweeps the field.

Complete sets of the Sibelius symphonies are a dime a dozen, but this one impresses me more than any other I recall. On the whole the conducting is what I'd call "muscular", in contrast to Davis' earlier run through with the Boston Symphony which I remember as being rather effete in some indefinable way, as well as having a recording technique inferior to this set that led to a fairly distant sound image.This set includes not only the seven symphonies, but much other orchestral music Sibelius wrote, viz. Rakastava, En Saga, Kullervo, Lemminkäinen suite, Pohjola's Daughter, The Bard, Karelia suite, Oceanides, Finlandia, Valse Triste, Tapiola, and Nightride and Sunrise.But what really blows me away about this magnificent recording is the sonics. The stereo image of the orchestra is the finest I've ever heard. Unlike some recordings where the left and right channels don't shake hands much and the center is missing, this set has a full spread across the sound stage. I'm not normally excited by sonics but this set impresses me beyond anything I can put in words.The engineers and producers have done a miracle here. None of the instrumental lines is masked because of some misbalance; you hear each instrument, not some ambiguous fog of sound. Violins actually sound like violins, a more difficult attainment than you might realize.And as I've said, the performance is per se as good a rendition of Sibelius as can be expected on this earth.If you, poor soul, don't have a complete set of Sibelius symphonies, this one will fill the bill nicely. If on the other hand you already have several sets...well, you still need this one. It's incredible, both in terms of musicianship and engineering.

This set, recorded from 1992-2000, and presented in excellent remastered 24 bit sound is a serious competitor in what is now a very competitive field. Not least, Davis has his earlier set with the Boston and the later set with the LSO on its own label to contend with. This current set under consideration has the advantage of offering a more comprehensive coverage of Sibelius’ orchestral output and at a very tempting price.There are also highly competitive sets including those by Berglund (3), Vanska and Maazel whose Blu-ray version is a huge improvement over the previous editions. This is not to forget the considerable number of outstanding single issues including Gibson’s LSO 5th with Karelia from the late 1950’s and sounding newly minted in its 24 bit remastered sound. The Blu-ray concert performances by Lintu are also exceptional and should not be ignored. They come with excellent visuals and a state-of-the-art surround sound option.Regardless of all the above this set is still a clear front-runner and far too good for collectors to ignore. The only negative comments I have noted from other reviewers is the apparent backward balance of the trumpets in Karelia. This is not really fair to the recording or Davis as the trumpets play the main melody twice and in this case the first statement is kept well below the level of the second statement in order to heighten the dynamic contrast. Another similar point worth mentioning is that the playback level for just Symphony 5 benefits considerably by raising the playback level by about 1 decibel otherwise the effect of this dramatic work is too subdued and therefore artistically damaging.Comparing the three sets of recordings by Davis it is clear that this has the best sound with more natural balances and tonal quality than the earlier Boston set and far more vitality and dramatic bite than the later own-label LSO set. Davis was a marginally younger man in this earlier LSO set and that really shows up in the added vitality of the interpretation as well as the added interpretive bite and orchestral delivery with appropriatly matching recorded sound. Indeed, the whole set offers performances of considerable drive and one is made fully aware of how very good an orchestra the LSO was both corporately and as individuals at the time of this second set. Like many other frequently recorded orchestras the LSO hit its peak in the late 1950's and early 1960's and has not deviated since.Regardless of how much duplication is caused by purchasing this set, and in this personal case it is considerable, this must be a priority temptation for all enthusiastic collectors.

Excellent interpretation as was to be expected, and an added attraction in Kullervo of which there are not so many recordings available. The only flaw is the lack of text and translation for the many of us who do not speak a word of Finnish. Fortunately I had them on my old Paavo Berglund version on vinyl.

価格、演奏、録音　申し分なし。学生時代一枚のレコードを買う為食事を抜いてまでレコード店に通ったあの努力は、何だったのか？

Da muss ich meinem Vorrezendenten doch etwas widersprechen. Unter Kennern der klassischen bzw. spätromantischen Musik ist Sibelius nun wirklich alles andere als eine unbekannte Größe. Und ich möchte hinzufügen: Dies vollkommen zu recht!Wundervolle symphonische Dichtung von großer Tiefe, epischen Klanglandschaften, bei deren Genuß man die Heimat des Komponisten förmlich atmen kann. Eben keine "Jubel-, Fuchsjagt- bzw. Champagnersymphonien", sondern Werke ganz eigenen Charakters, nicht selten mit einer gewissen Schwere und Melancholie - manchmal auch mit Pathos und Härte - vor allem aber mit einer Eigenständigkeit, die ihn von anderen Komponisten seiner Zeit abhebt.Meine Favoriten sind die Symphonien 1, 2, 4, 5, 6, Valse Triste sowie Finlandia, jedoch weisen auch die anderen Werke des hier repräsentierten Schaffen m.E. keine wirklichen Schwächen auf. Von der ersten bis zur siebten CD purer Genuß.Nun, ich bin kein Sibeliusexperte, lediglich eine handvoll Interpretationen seiner Werke finden sich in meiner Sammlung (u.a. Bernstein, Davis, Maazel, Karajan), aber neben den Einspielungen von Bernstein gehören die Einspielung von Sir Colin Davis mit dem LSO zu meinen Favoriten. Die durchweg überzeugende Klangqualität - die Einspielungen sind aus den 90ern - sowie der günstige Preis runden mein Gesamturteil ab. Das die CD's in Pappe verpackt sind, beurteile ich eher positiv, da mir Kunststoffhüllen weniger zusagen. Kartonage erinnert eben eher an die guten alten Schallplatten :-)Vom mir eine klare Kaufempfehlung.