Wonderful performance by the hometown orchestra. Turku has fewer than 200,000 people, yet they have this excellent orchestra in a funky concert hall. But with this conductor performing Sibelius, it is delightful. Love all the performances of Sibelius from this orchestra.
Agreed Sensational Fluid, light, dancing, free, charged with depth Fabulous quality of sound Resonant, clear Listening The conductor self evidently a maestro It all appears effortless Fabulous soloists United A revelation Merci infiniment Paris 🙏🏼🕯🕯🙏🏼
Amazing symphony. Has been said that this is the symphony where Sibelius true individual voice emerges, later to flower in the powerful 5th and 7th symphonies. The clarity is amazing here, giving this symphony a chamber orchestra feel, all the orchestral colours and various tambers so well defined. An example is in the plagal -amen cadence ending of the first movement dimuendo drum roll. Never heard it so clearly before.
Leif Segerstam is a giant, he composed ca. 350 symphonies and is still working :D His performances are rather slower, I've got 2 completed Sibelius' symphonies under his direction, both very good - with danish radio orchestra and with Helsinki Philharmonic. The danish one is rather slower, than the finnish one. This last one is quite 'guide' of 'how to play Sibelius' :)
Sure, Segerz is a giant, but lets concentrate on his musical abilities-he may have misunderstood "Finnish McDonald's" to mean you must always eat every last morsel!
This is my favourite among Sibelius' symphonies. The upload is superb, as are also others from the same source: beautiful and clear both in picture and sound. Perhaps you could try Uuno Klami's Kalevala Suite?
The 3rd and 6th are my favourites at this time. The powerful 5th was my Sibelian introduction piece, and I later fell under the spell of the brooding 4th and transcendent 7th.
I've known Leif many years and he's got the same spirit as Sibelius, they match together. I I member that I had known this Symphonie and nr. 5 a long time before I had the opertunity to play under Leif and we became freinds. When he performed those two Symphonies for the first time in Denmark, it was as I had heard them before. His articulations, his tempi and his abillity to make everything so clear and Understandible is extraordinarily.
The conductor had to conduct the audience in to clap at the end. I love this symphony and this performance really brought out the Finnishness - if that´s a thing. And with Santa himself no less.
Beautiful interpretation of this symphony so good job to the conductor and all musicians performing. 👏🏻 I just wonder why this recording wasn't done in the last rehearsal but during an actual performance because goven that the audience consists of mostly retired people, the mandatory audience coughings can be expected. Unfortunately, this one had quite a lot of them which is irritating and unnecessary.
I knew I was in for a treat a couple of minutes in. That bright, crisp, detailed, colourful sound washed over me immediately, with the masterly Mr Segerstam pacing everything perfectly and the orchestra producing such a sensitive, sweet, soulful, brilliant, dynamic performance. Excellent work from everyone. Thank you for the pleasure✨
@@avisnocturna8942 An article from last Dec says he's dropped his weight from 170 to 117 kgs, and is now also a principal guest for the St. Petersburg State Academic Symphony Orchestra.
I love this symphony actually but I struggle with the final theme as I think many orchestras and conductors probably do. I think there is a way of understanding what Sibelius was getting at. It´s tempting to try to build it to the very end as the conductor does here but I don´t think this is quite what Sibelius is aiming for?
