Re: GG, Sibelius

[Bradley Lehman <bpl@umich.edu>]

At 05:58 PM 8/17/2000 +0000, Jacqueline Colombier wrote:

> I am a sort of latecomer for the discovery of the Gould's site but I soon I
> founded it I suscribed to the Mailing list. Since the 4th of August I've
> read the messages with great pleasure and interest. To-day I want to say
> hello to everyone and make a few comments.

Welcome!

You might also enjoy the discussion archives:
http://tug.org/mail-archives/f_minor/

> - In The Glenn Gould legacy, vol 3, (with the wonderful Brahms's Intermezzi)
> I love the Sibelius sonatinas but apart from these and the violin concerto I
> don't know much of Sibelius = I'd like to know more, so maybe someone can
> give some advices ? About his symphonies for instance ?

Well, there's GG's own strong recommendation of Karajan for the Symphony
#5.  There are several Karajan recordings of it, all quite good, and GG of
course used one of those for the finale of "The Idea of North."  For all
the other symphonies (and including #5 duplicated) I'm very fond of the
Barbirolli recordings...they're sometimes hard to find, but definitely
worth finding.  So colorful and warm.

If you don't mind old sound, there are some wonderful recordings of the
symphonies from the 1930's by Robert Kajanus and Thomas Beecham.

The Symphony #4 is quite a depressing piece, really melancholy and
intense.  #1 sounds sort of like Tchaikovsky.  #7 is abstract.

If you like big dramatic pieces with orchestra, chorus, and vocal soloists,
the early "Kullervo" symphony Op 7 is a treat.

Of the tone poems, "The Swan of Tuonela" makes a nice pair with "The Isle
of the Dead" by Rachmaninoff...same idea.  That piece (the Swan) was for a
while destined to be one of the vignettes in Disney's "Fantasia" and there
were some sketches for it, but then it wasn't used.  What a segment that
would have been!


Bradley Lehman
Dayton VA
http://www-personal.umich.edu/~bpl