From: saqx@vax5.cit.cornell.edu
Newsgroups: rec.music.classical
Subject: Sibelius 2nd
Date: 4 Sep 92 20:27:02 EDT
Distribution: rec
Organization: Cornell University

A poster recently raised the question of whether Blomstedt's new version
of Sibelius's 2nd is worth it as a "thinking person's" Sibelius.  Well,
I have four versions on CD, Bernstein with the VPO on DG (in a rare 
moment of lunacy--I generally can't stand the sound of the VPO brass),
Mehta with the NYPhil on Teldec, Jarvi with the Gothenburg SO on Bis,
and now Blomstedt's entry.  I'm still looking for a version that *really*
satisfies me.  I've also heard the Levi/Telarc recording, but don't own
it.  Out of all these versions, I am most satisfied with the interpretation
by Jarvi--he gets every ounce of juice out of that score, but the performance
isn't the kind that I like.  The orchestra sounds too small, there are some
misses in the brass, and the trumpets don't sound confident and majestic
enough at the very end.  Bernstein's interpretation hits way off mark
for me, too slow and plodding in the finale.  (Not to mention those damn
reedy whining Vienna trumpets and the nonexistent trombones)  Mehta's
recording is a bit ragged in places, and doesn't strike me as well-thought-
out as Jarvi's; the latter has the best grasp of this score, I think.
For Blomstedt, the performance is excellent, the recording quality is
first-rate (the string run at the end of the second movement is razor 
clean here), but the whole thing seems a bit flat in coming across.  
Now this could be because Blomstedt is going for a more "professional"
reading, de-emphasizing the late romantic tendencies of the piece, 
but personally I prefer a touch of melodrama in the interpretation.
Jarvi's intensity (in places) and pacing can't be matched, I think.
It's a shame that he didn't record this with the San Francisco Symphony
himself--that would have been a hands down winner, in my estimation.
As it is, I'd want to have both Jarvi's and Blomstedt's versions, and
imagine a magical mix of the best parts of both.  I haven't heard Rattle's
account, which may be pretty good, nor Ashkenazy's.  I did hear the 
Philadelphia Orchestra here on campus last year conducted by Yuri 
Temirkanov, but that interpretation didn't hit home, either.  The
Philadelphia Orchestra and maestro Temirkanov are recording the whole
cycle for Angel, I believe, so that might be worth checking out.
Still, the recording which left the strongest impression with me was
an old LP that I heard as an undergrad, with Sir John Barbirolli leading
the Halle Orchestra, but that was a long time ago and I might not like 
it as much if I heard it now.

Dissenting opinions?



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Newsgroups: rec.music.classical