Search - Jean Sibelius, Colin Davis, Dresden Staatskapelle :: Sibelius: Symphony No. 2; En Saga; Luonnotar

Sibelius Sym 2 / SKD & Colin Davis: Drama, Poetry, Northern

Dan Fee | Berkeley, CA USA | 03/26/2006

(5 out of 5 stars)

"Sir Colin Davis has made a reputation for himself over the years as a leading Sibelius conductor. His set with the Boston Symphony set high standards, although that set's regular red book 16-bit sound is no longer the gold medal it once was. In those performances, I found the Boston Symphony of the era quite up to its elegant mettle, but adopting a leaner, lithe approach to the Second Symphony that I liked without too many qualms. My standard in the Sibelius Second Symphony has long been the singular CD performance by Sir John Barbirolli - himself a Sibelius conductor of great note - leading the Royal Philharmonic. It was a very good day in the studio, that day. At first those tapes were marketed in LP sets by Reader's Digest, then I believe Time/Life took over; and finally the Barbirolli RPO was published on the Chesky label, in very good remastered analogue stereo. The stellar sound on that disc reminds me of the first stereo tapes made by RCA when they were experimenting with stereo recording. Has Fritz Reiner & Chicago's Heldenleben or Zarathustra ever really been bettered? To recall that this is in the mid-1950's is to realize that getting it just right always wears well for a very long time afterward.



This second betters the Boston second which was already very good. I have never warmed to the complete set on BMG with the LSO for some reason. The most recent surveys, again with the LSO, but edging into marvelous Super Audio CD sound with multiple channels, promises to be much more compelling. That effort still lacks a second symphony, though who knows, it may be in the can already, too.



Happily, while not completely sonic demonstration masters, these tapes of live broadcast performances from Midland German Radio archives of the Staatskappelle Dresden under Sir Colin Davis are good enough to run with the field as it now stands.



What the great Dresden orchestra adds that might have been lessened somewhat with Boston is precisely in the sheer depth and power of their sound in all orchestral departments. The fine LSO has to go some, too, to match Dresden a lot of the time. Brass, woodwinds, and strings in Dresden are surely brilliant enough and muscular enough, but these departments can also generate considerable velvet heft, and considerable granitic, unmovable objectivities that ever remain rock, sculpted and polished.



For my ears, this sort of complex, rich sound is just what the best Sibelius performances may indulge without losing their musical ways. I want to hear the brass snarl, and stretch out those typical Sibelius long-breathed crescendos - without having it all fall apart and become circus tricks that detract from the overall deep flows of the rhythms and the harmonies. Sir Colin Davis knows how to do this when he is leading Sibelius, and his Dresden musical athletes bring all their immense capacities to bear.



If all of this serves well in the second symphony, it becomes positively glorious when we get to the tone poem, En Saga.



So far, so good.



This CD ends with a less frequently performed vocal work, Luonnotar, for soprano and orchestra. The text is based on the first part of the Finnish national epic, Kalevela. It tells of the creation of the heavens and the stars. Written in 1913, it falls right after the composer finished his fourth symphony. The soprano part is apparently not very easy to sing. It alternates between declamatory passages to tell the drama, and more songlike lyrical passages that evoke deep Sibelian moods. My standard in this work has long been Elizabeth Soderstrom, led by Ashkenazy with the London Philharmonia. Nearly as wonderful are Solveig Kingelborn with Paavo Jarvi leading the Royal Stockholm Philharmonic, and Phyllis Curtin with the New York Philharmonic under - yes - Leonard Bernstein.



Ute Selber can just join this esteemed group, maybe without completely displacing Soderstrom in my deep affections, and without setting aside Curtin or Kringelborn, either. She has a dramatic, declamatory voice with lots of heft; but she can spin out a long song, too, when she needs it.



Luonnotar is personal, and a bit quirky. Listening to it, I realize that Sibelius had some possibilities of going even farther along untrammeled musical roads, beyond even the mysteries of the fourth symphony, or the sixth or the seventh. The raw drama and lyricism of the Finnish heart was there; but perhaps the composer was completely right to destroy his eighth symphony.



Now that Sir Colin has done Kullervo in super audio with the LSO for his newest series, he will no doubt eventually get around to another second symphony, and maybe even another Luonnotar. It would be so lovely if he could persuade Kringelborn to join him if he does perform it again.



Meanwhile, it is quite satisfying to hear Dresden give their best in these works. Highly recommended."

Incandescent Orchestral Playing, Sound, and Interpretation

J Scott Morrison | Middlebury VT, USA | 04/12/2006

(5 out of 5 stars)

"Sir Colin Davis has made a specialty of Sibelius (along with Berlioz). He has recorded the entire canon of symphonies twice (landmark recordings with the Boston Symphony and later with the London Symphony -- both of them marvelous with, for me, the edge going to the older BSO set) and one wonders why he would have recorded that most-recorded of Sibelian symphonies, the No. 2, again. The answer is that this is not a studio recording, but comes from a performance done by the Staatskapelle Dresden broadcast on German radio, and thus it was not really intended originally for wide release; thankfully the Profil label has rescued it from undeserved obscurity. And as is the case with many 'live' recordings, this one is white-hot with the sense of occasion. This is not only a masterful account of the symphony, it is in marvelous sound (it was recorded in 1988) and, best of all, the SKD sounds absolutely first-rate here. All departments of the orchestra shine. In the first few bars, with those throbbing string chords that never fail to move one, the depth and honeyed tone of the SKD strings is viscerally exciting. Indeed, this is some of the best orchestral string playing I've ever heard. And the level of orchestral performance never lets down. In the third movement, marked vivacissimo, the winds are spectacular and when we get to that sensuous oboe tune (the one that starts with nine repeated notes) the change of tempo comes across with the quintessential Sibelian 'pull up a chair and I'll tell you a story' tone -- the oboist's singing of that plaintive melody will bring a lump to your throat. Then we get to the stirring finale where the brass come into their own, not only with the full-brass accompanimental interjections but also those thrilling trumpet calls. Davis manages the tricky crescendi in this movement with absolute naturalism. This is, make no mistake, a great recording of Sibelius's most popular symphony.



'En Saga' and 'Luonnotar' were recorded 'live' in 2003 and are marginally less effective if only because the standard set in the symphony would be hard to match. 'En Saga' is difficult to bring off, if only because there is so much repetition (rather like that in 'Bolero', although any resemblance ends there) coupled with subtle differences in instrumentation and countermelodies. It is not for nothing that many consider this to be Sibelius's most important tone-poem. Davis, of course, has conducted and recorded it many times and he has the subtleties in his bones. The SKD play like angels.



'Luonnotar', rarely heard in concert, is another of Sibelius's works inspired by the Kalevala, the Finnish national saga. About ten minutes long, and scored for soprano and orchestra, it relates a creation myth featuring Luonnotar, a 'daughter of the heavens.' (Unfortunately, the booklet provides no text.) Soprano Ute Selbig is excellent, although not quite in the same class as Elisabeth Soderstrom, and the quirky orchestral writing is beautifully played by the Staatskapelle.



Another Sibelian triumph for Sir Colin and worth every penny of its asking price.



Scott Morrison"

Fairly standard Davis performance, growing more placid and u

Santa Fe Listener | Santa Fe, NM USA | 06/01/2007

(3 out of 5 stars)

"This live 1988 Sibelius 2nd from Dresden finds the orchestra in golden tone, and that's enhanced by the first-rate concdert broadcast sound. On that socre there's no enying the pleasure of this reading. But Colin Davis has had four tries at this work, the latest another live recording with the LSO on their house label. There's no denying his skill and comittment, but Davis's approach to Sibelius has become increasingly slow, sonorous, and placid. There are no thrills in this reading, and Davis keeps dynamics and tempo at such an even keel that my attention wandered.



For me, the great Sibelians since WW II were Karajan, Bernstein (his NY Phil. cycle), Beecham (although his best Sibelius was befoe the war), with Colin Davis and Simon Rattle pretty far back. But the English love him, as they do Sibelius, so he gets as many bites at the apple as he wants, which turns out to be a lot. If you want a live Sibelius 2nd from him, i actually prefer the latest LSO reading for the more committed playing of the orchestra."