Search - Jean Sibelius, Herbert von Karajan, Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra :: Sibelius: Symphony No. 2; En Saga

The ugly duckling in Karajan's Sibelius output

Santa Fe Listener | Santa Fe, NM USA | 09/03/2006

(5 out of 5 stars)

"EMI must be embarrassed by Karajan's 1980 recording of the Sibelius Second. In their latest Karajan Edition reissues they picked his much earlier version with the Philharmonia. The 1980 Berlin version has been sporadically in and out of print, but it languishes as the ugly duckling in an output of Sibelius symphonies for EMI and DG that has won wide acclaim.



The performance itself is powerful, often massive, and played with consummate skill. EMI's sonics are fine; the conductor is in good form. I'm baffled, frankly. British critics love Barbirolli's measured, highly personal account of the Second on Chesky with the Royal Phil., part of a Reader's Digest project from the Sixties. In some ways Karajan is the anti-Barbirolli, favoring high orchestral polish and an objective stance. Maybe that's the problem. In any case, I'm very impressed by Karajan's heroic approach, so let me lift a lone voice above the general neglect of a very fine reading.

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Herbert von Karajan conducting Sibelius

Michael J. Cook | Skokie, IL | 09/16/2008

(4 out of 5 stars)

"The composer Jean Sibelius wrote shortly before his death, "Only von Karajan understands my music." There are,of course, other interpreters of his music who conduct it very well. But von Karajan had insights such as spacious breadth of tempo and unity that one hears in Wagner and Tchaikovsky--the composers who influenced Sibelius the most. The Berlin Philharmonic is at its very best--particularly in the climaxes."

Fine Performance, But Not a Beginner's Sibelius Second

Moldyoldie | Motown, USA | 11/11/2008

(4 out of 5 stars)

"This was purchased mostly as an afterthought to complete a collection of Karajan's now budget-priced late-'70s/early-'80s Sibelius symphony recordings with the Berlin Philharmonic on EMI, but also out of curiosity to hear if his interpretation of the popular Second Symphony differs from that of his gripping performance of about twenty years earlier with London's Philharmonia Orchestra. (Sibelius: Symphonies Nos. 2 and 5 (The Karajan Collection)) That earlier recording, while not among my very favorite renditions of the Second, still manages to command attention as authoritative, committed, and most expressive. Also, the playing of the Philharmonia is magnificent and the vaunted recording very fine.



Other than seemingly broader, more flowing lines, less overtly emphatic phrasing and attacks, along with one of the more deliberately expansive renditions of the big finale I've yet heard (over a full minute longer at 16:39), I can't say this later performance otherwise offers much of a substantive difference in interpretation from the earlier Philharmonia performance. In my opinion, it comes down to how the listener takes to Karajan's willfully stretched, often solemnly rendered finale here. I'll admit it took me awhile, and a few listens, to comfortably adjust. I have to question whether or not the Finale ultimately sounds organic with the overall conception here. Other than some ugly and unforeseen ensemble difficulties in the big (and apparently challenging) lead-up to the Finale, the Berlin Philharmonic sounds every bit the great orchestra one would expect. While not nearly as vividly recorded (in somewhat problematic early digital, immediately apparent in some steely high-pitched strings and in ultra-hushed pianissimos), I'll take this later Karajan performance any day over James Levine's hasty and ill-measured '90s performance with the Berliners on Deutsche Grammophon. (Sibelius: Finlandia; Valse triste; Symphony No. 2) However, my absolute favorite recording and one I'd recommend categorically to novice or seasoned listener alike remains Barbirolli's with the Royal Philharmonic on the Chesky label. (Sibelius: Symphony No. 2)



En Saga was recorded a few years prior to the symphony and exudes plenty of requisite atmosphere and cinematic storytelling. Karajan takes it fairly straightforward, slowing appreciably and effectively in the final third, and the orchestra responds very well -- a most satisfying mini-epic, if perhaps not the last word in this piece. Also, the warm, late analog recording displays a noticeable improvement over that of the symphony.

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