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Customer Reviews
Most Helpful Customer Reviews
2 of 2 people found the following review helpful
Format:Audio CD
This set has all of Sibelius's symphonies, and other symphonic works, namely: Luonnotar (with soprano Soile Isokoski), Tapiola, Lemminkäinen suite, Karelia suite, Kung Kristian, Finlandia, Nightride and Sunrise, The Bard, En Saga, and, from Kuolema, Valse Triste, The Crane Scene, Canzonetta and Valse romantique.
The playing is excellent, tempi are well-judged and sound quality faultless. An excellent choice for those new to Sibelius, or those looking for another set.
The playing is excellent, tempi are well-judged and sound quality faultless. An excellent choice for those new to Sibelius, or those looking for another set.
Most Helpful Customer Reviews on Amazon.com (beta)
Amazon.com:
7 reviews
28 of 29 people found the following review helpful
A Superb Introduction to Sibelius
6 Feb 2008
Format:Audio CD|Amazon Verified Purchase
This box contains nearly all of Sibelius's major orchestral music, in superb performances under a noted interpreter of Scandanavian music, in collaboration with a virtuosic ensemble that is thoroughly steeped in the idiom, and vividly recorded. As such it represents remarkable value for a modest investment. Similar sets abound--Berglund/EMI, Barbirolli/EMI, Ashkenazy/Decca, Davis/BMG--but this one, in my estimation, trumps them all.
Järvi knows this music inside out, yet conveys the freshness of new discovery even in such hackneyed works as the Second Symphony, *Finlandia*, and the *Swan of Tuonela*. He has the measure of Sibelius's northern sensibilities, but doesn't overdo the bleakness; on the other hand, there is a forthrightness, even a toughness to his interpretations that well suit a composer who fairly early in his career turned rather decisively from lush romanticism to a more restrained neo-classicism. Thus Järvi resists overplaying the rhetoric in the finale of the Third and the Fifth, while he vividly evokes the chilly landscpes of the Sixth, Seventh and *Tapiola* (whose central "storm" episode is as terrifying as one could wish, even if, at a rather brisk tempo, it doesn't build as inexorably as Karajan's stunning EMI account). I also appreciated Järvi's headstrong but nuanced First and Second, which convey a sense of eager anticipation that make them sound newly-minted.
A generous serving of tone poems and shorter orchestral works, including the *Four Legends* (but regrettably not the *Kullervo Symphony*), benefit from Järvi's crisply articulated rhythms and cleanly delineated textures. *Night Ride and Sunrise* sweeps one along in a whirlwind of passion--yet it is passion under control, and that is exactly right for Sibelius. *Andante Festivo* is as haunting as one could wish. *Luonnatar* is spectacularly well sung, and it's cosmic vision is communicated with extraordinary vividness.
The one relative disappointment for me was Järvi's appropriately introverted but less than involving Fourth Symphony. But my impressions might have been shaped by an abiding admiration for Karajan's and Maazel's more overtly expressive accounts of the score. But even when he is not firing on all cylinders, Järvi is never less than elegant and always atmospheric in Sibelius--and that counts for more than superficial excitement.
So don't hesitate to purchase this set if you're seeking something like a "basic library edition" of Sibelius's important orchestral music. You won't be disappointed. Järvi is more interesting than Davis or Berglund, leaner and meaner than Barbirolli (to be sure), better played and recorded than Sakari (though not by much), far more idiomatic than Ashkenazy's "Slavic" or Karajan's "Prussian" Sibelius (much though I enjoy the results of those misconceptions!).
In short--a best buy, despite the absence of a booklet with annotations.
Järvi knows this music inside out, yet conveys the freshness of new discovery even in such hackneyed works as the Second Symphony, *Finlandia*, and the *Swan of Tuonela*. He has the measure of Sibelius's northern sensibilities, but doesn't overdo the bleakness; on the other hand, there is a forthrightness, even a toughness to his interpretations that well suit a composer who fairly early in his career turned rather decisively from lush romanticism to a more restrained neo-classicism. Thus Järvi resists overplaying the rhetoric in the finale of the Third and the Fifth, while he vividly evokes the chilly landscpes of the Sixth, Seventh and *Tapiola* (whose central "storm" episode is as terrifying as one could wish, even if, at a rather brisk tempo, it doesn't build as inexorably as Karajan's stunning EMI account). I also appreciated Järvi's headstrong but nuanced First and Second, which convey a sense of eager anticipation that make them sound newly-minted.
A generous serving of tone poems and shorter orchestral works, including the *Four Legends* (but regrettably not the *Kullervo Symphony*), benefit from Järvi's crisply articulated rhythms and cleanly delineated textures. *Night Ride and Sunrise* sweeps one along in a whirlwind of passion--yet it is passion under control, and that is exactly right for Sibelius. *Andante Festivo* is as haunting as one could wish. *Luonnatar* is spectacularly well sung, and it's cosmic vision is communicated with extraordinary vividness.
The one relative disappointment for me was Järvi's appropriately introverted but less than involving Fourth Symphony. But my impressions might have been shaped by an abiding admiration for Karajan's and Maazel's more overtly expressive accounts of the score. But even when he is not firing on all cylinders, Järvi is never less than elegant and always atmospheric in Sibelius--and that counts for more than superficial excitement.
So don't hesitate to purchase this set if you're seeking something like a "basic library edition" of Sibelius's important orchestral music. You won't be disappointed. Järvi is more interesting than Davis or Berglund, leaner and meaner than Barbirolli (to be sure), better played and recorded than Sakari (though not by much), far more idiomatic than Ashkenazy's "Slavic" or Karajan's "Prussian" Sibelius (much though I enjoy the results of those misconceptions!).
In short--a best buy, despite the absence of a booklet with annotations.
20 of 21 people found the following review helpful
Where are the liner notes?
8 Sep 2008
Format:Audio CD|Amazon Verified Purchase
I agree with the first reviewer, but what is it with DG in not including liner notes in the packaging? This seems to be increasingly the case in classical recordings. At least include a link to an informative website or PDF, etc. While there is a website for this release, the information is scant at best. Yes, I would like a booklet.
12 of 14 people found the following review helpful
Make NO Mistake...This Is One of the BEST!
27 July 2010
Format:Audio CD|Amazon Verified Purchase
This is truly a top-notch collection of the complete symphonies of Jean Sibelius out there....Jarvi, long-steeped in this music of his native land, certainly is one of the TWO best interpreters of these works. The other, of course, is Osmo Vanska, that set, also highly recommended Sibelius: The Complete Symphonies.
Nemi Jarvi knows these works inside-out, and together with the Gothenburg Symphony Orchestra, where Sibelius himself also conducted them, we are presented with truly in-depth performances of these Scandanavian monolithic works. DG gives us truly demonstration quality sound, strings with a beautiful sheen, and brass with true bite, paced majestically by the inimitable Jarvi, one of the finest conductors/interpreters to come our way.
I honestly find no weak links here to speak of, but wish for a less introspective Fourth that carries more involvement, more bite if you will. This is not a complaint, really, as the work still holds together.
The other works, filling up the discs, are all first rate, and I must say that I am most pleased to have here included the wonderful "Nightride and Sunrise" op. 55, not usually a presented work, and truly worthy of disc space and certainly your time!
What could I wish for? Well, I wish I had realized that this set was also available in SACD format before ordering it, for only a very few dollars more! What a bargain this set is in SACD...I would urge you to go for that one for the small price difference.
The complaint(s) about no documentation are truly minimalistic here, I believe. These recordings are all first-rate, they are presented at a bargain price, etc., and while I usually do complain about no documentation, in this case, DG is forgiven because of what they are giving us at such a great price. Listen, folks, if you need more information regarding these works and Sibelius, it is easily and readily available on line...take this bargain, and spend a little time looking up what you need to know!
This set is exemplary....you're in for a real treat, believe me!
~operabruin
Nemi Jarvi knows these works inside-out, and together with the Gothenburg Symphony Orchestra, where Sibelius himself also conducted them, we are presented with truly in-depth performances of these Scandanavian monolithic works. DG gives us truly demonstration quality sound, strings with a beautiful sheen, and brass with true bite, paced majestically by the inimitable Jarvi, one of the finest conductors/interpreters to come our way.
I honestly find no weak links here to speak of, but wish for a less introspective Fourth that carries more involvement, more bite if you will. This is not a complaint, really, as the work still holds together.
The other works, filling up the discs, are all first rate, and I must say that I am most pleased to have here included the wonderful "Nightride and Sunrise" op. 55, not usually a presented work, and truly worthy of disc space and certainly your time!
What could I wish for? Well, I wish I had realized that this set was also available in SACD format before ordering it, for only a very few dollars more! What a bargain this set is in SACD...I would urge you to go for that one for the small price difference.
The complaint(s) about no documentation are truly minimalistic here, I believe. These recordings are all first-rate, they are presented at a bargain price, etc., and while I usually do complain about no documentation, in this case, DG is forgiven because of what they are giving us at such a great price. Listen, folks, if you need more information regarding these works and Sibelius, it is easily and readily available on line...take this bargain, and spend a little time looking up what you need to know!
This set is exemplary....you're in for a real treat, believe me!
~operabruin
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