i’m so happy to see dave talk about sibelius 2 i am just obsessed with sibelius especially recently! symphony 1-5 have been on repeat for the last 3 months!
I am lucky enough to own both of Szell’s recordings. The recording with Cleveland is somewhat special because Szell was just about on his deathbed. And it has a hot Rakoczi March/Berlioz.
And I am lucky enough to have heard the Sibelius in Severance Hall in January 1970, a few months before that final tour. You are right about the Berlioz. Like no other conductor he pushes and pushes the ending the way it should be imho.
Thanks to you, the Szell Tokyo concert is part of my core collection, in a single-disc SACD pressing, which I never would have noticed without following your videos, day by day.
The performance is riveting for sure; I only have the Sony. However, once you introduced me to John Barbirolli and the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra's recording (Chesky), I no agree that the Szell recordings can top it.
At the age of 10 Sibelius' 2nd became my favourite music- that was Barbirolli with Hallé, the one i've been very familiar with, so naturally love. Thanks so much for review of Nezet-Seguin, superb.
I share your opinion on the Barbirolli/Halle recording of Sibelius 2. It's perhaps not as polished as Barbirolli's recording with Royal Philharmonic, but it's very well-recorded in terms of conveying the orchestral color, the parts don't blend together. The slow, accentuated finale sounds best to me.
I finally was able to procure the Cleveland-Szell Live in Tokyo CD. I had to order from Amazon Japan, but it was worth the cost and long wait. Thanks for the recommendation!
Yes indeed. Had this Szell and The Concertgebouw Sibelius recording on the Philips label in my collection since time began it seems. Just can't pull myself away from listening to any other recording. IT'S THAT GOOD !!! Another fine one, Dave
Dave - I asked the question about what you consider to be the symphony by any composer that you believe was as close to perfect as possible. I’m a surgeon by trade and I’ve seen many great surgeons. Surgeons whose technical expertise was at the highest level. Who never had wasted motion or who never seemed to have trouble seeing the surgical field or whose exposure was always perfect. A great surgeon is like watching a great conductor and the surgery is like listening to a symphony that is flawless. I love listening to you critique conductors and composers. We do the same after surgery going back and critiquing procedures, but always in a way to advance our craft. As a critic of many years, I was wondering what you felt to be the symphony that came closest to perfection, both in musical beauty and technical excellence. In surgery we strive to perform that “perfect” procedure. It was more a personal philosophical question for you as an experienced musician and critic more than anything else. Thanks for such a great channel.
