Sibelius Symphonies

I love the symphonies, but haven't been bowled over too much by many performances I've heard. One I recommend is the sixth with the Royal Scottish National Orchestra, under Gibson. Very pure, well proportioned, suits the symphony perfectly I think.

I actually got a few more sets recently, here is what I have in my permanent collection:

Ashkenazy/London Doubles Sym 1-7
This is what all the critics recommend but to tell the truth it is only a little above average and over rated once you hear some good stuff. There is drama and exciting contrast when reqiured, but overall performance doesn't quite reach the top level of others. Modern sound is very good.

Davis/Phillips Duo Sym 1,2,4,5
Too polished and smooth, a bit booring actually. I hear newer Davis/RCA/LSO just released is better set but have not heard yet. Too many other better performances to really recommend these.

Maazel/London Sym 1-7
You really haven't heard the power and excitement Sibelius can project if you haven't heard these versions. These recordings are very detailed and have tremendous dynamic range, Maazel leaves nothing on the table and makes almost any other version seem timid and reserved. Later symphonies not quite as good as early ones, but best set overall for me.

Kamu & Karajan/DG Trio Sym 1-7
Kamu does 1,2,3 and Karajan does 4,5,6,7. I mention this set because of the Kamu performances.......the Karajan 4-7 are the same famous ones that receive a rosette in Penguin Guide, but I am not a fan of Karajan's DG Sibelius but love his EMI symphonies.
Kamu gives very exciting and sweeping performances of 1-3 better than most of the name conductors, the sound is a bit hot and does not have the bloom of best recordings however.

Jarvi/BIS Sym 1,2
Jarvi strikes a good balance between romantic sweep and powerful drama in these works, better than highly rated Ashkenazy for instance, and BIS sound is excellent. Somewhat hard to find now but solid performances.

Jansons/EMI Sym 1
This one has it all: great modern sound, exciting, romantic sweep etc. Other symphonies by Jansons in this series are not quite as good, so just get sym 1 and move on.

Barbirolli/Chesky Sym 2
There are several Barbirolli 2nds out there, but this is the one. his other versions are pale imitations and Chesky sound is very good, very solid.

Karajan/EMI Sym 1,4,6
I mentioned before I am not thrilled by Karajan's DG Sibelius, too smooth and polished with all the life sucked out...muzak versions. His EMI is completely different beast, you would never guess this is Karajan.....full of vigor and powerful romantic sweep, in a word excellent. Unfortunately you will have very hard time finding this version currently
(there is a 2CD Karajan/EMI set currently with Sym 1,4,5,6)

Jarvi/BIS and Ashkenazy/London here. Bought long ago.

DA sums it up well. The Sibelius got me started collecting Jarvi's recordings, and that led me BIS and Scandinavian music in general. A very rewarding journey.

BW

I'd like to get to know these better! I've been through my Davis/BSO complete set a few times (including some tone poems). The first two and the fifth are very Tchaikovsky-like. My favorite is the 4th. 7 and 8 are also very interesting. I guess I'm also attracted to the bleaker more "northern" ones.

Karajan is OK in the lusher symphonies. I've heard only a couple of the Ashkenazies on the radio--they seemed OK. In my experience, the elder Maazel is very reliable in a wide range of repetoire. I head his #2 on the radio and liked it.

I've got an old recording of the Kullervo that I cleaned a couple of weeks ago and hope to listen to next weekend!

Now the Eighth would be interesting.

http://encyclopedia.thefreedictionar...y%20(Sibelius)

Ooops! I meant 6/7 not 7/8. Supposedly there was an 8th, but JS burned it.

I am particularly interested in hearing budget recommendations for Sibelius. I had a couple of old Naxos discs conducted by Leaper, and they seemed competent if rather perfunctory. The newer Naxos cycle is supposed to be a little better, I think. Can I assume that Davis/Philips and Maazel are both priced in the "budget" category?

As you can tell by my list I much prefer the early Sibelius symphonies. The first three are full of vitality optimism and romantic sweep, the 4th is a transitional work and 5-7 are much darker bleaker affairs which don't interest me much.

Maazel set is pretty cheap especially if purchased used:
Maazel

The only complete set in my collection to date is the Ashkenazy, which - as has been rightly stated before - indeed leaves much to be desired. As so often with Ashkenazy (as a conductor), he tends to defuse the music by creating an emotionally rather overdone picture of blured contours.
Davis did a wonderful, indeed almost congenial 1st with the LSO and I'm also very fond of some of Jansons' recordings with the Oslo Phil (2nd, 3rd, 5th).
Some of Järvi's recordings with the Gothenburg Symphony aren't bad either (I quite like his take on Tapiola).
If I'm tempted by another full set though, it would be Oramo with Birmingham (remarkable 2nd & 4th).
Berglund's more chamber musical approach sounds fascinating as well (4th & 6th).
Haven't heard anything of the Sakari cycle yet, but I know of some who do rate this quite highly (especially the 4th & 5th). Might be worth a try.

Indeed, this is trully a rare thing on the internet, where opinions are engraved in stone and is blasphemy to rebel against.

Now I need to dig out the Sibelius CDs I have....damnit...

I don't think we've heard from any of our Finnish members yet!

What about other Sibelius? His string quartets make for good listening, though they are early works. I have a Glenn Gould recording of some solo piano music which didn't impress me very much--neither melodic nor atmospheric to my (admittedly tinny) ears.

Wow, I am super impressed by DarkAngel's collection.
Here is what I have: Ormandy/Philadelphia/Sony Sym 2&7
I am not particularly thrilled by this recording. Cannot really recommend it to anyone. I will look into Maazel or Ashkenzay's discs based on the suggestion above.