Sibelius: Symphony No. 6 in D minor, Op. 104

Mark Obert-Thorn, producer and audio restoration engineer

Three historically significant première recordings of Sibelius symphonies are brought together on this reissue for the first time. Finnish conductor Georg Schnéevoigt was close to Sibelius and a perceptive interpreter of his music, making this lucid and controlled first recording of the Sixth Symphony following the death of Robert Kajanus, who was to have recorded the complete symphonies. Made during the Great Depression, Leopold Stokowski’s compelling performance of the Fourth Symphony reflects the composer’s ‘solitude and pain’. Renowned Russian conductor Serge Koussevitzky directs Sibelius’s final Seventh Symphony in a famously intense live performance.

Jean Sibelius (1865-1958) was one of the greatest symphonists of the 20th century and his music is as popular today as it was when he died over 50 years ago. This set contains the final four of Sibelius's seven symphonies, written between the years 1911 and 1924. Although he lived for almost another 30 years Sibelius wrote nothing after 1929. It is reputed that he wrote an Eighth Symphony but this is believed to have been destroyed by the composer.

Thomas Zehetmair, Music Director of Northern Sinfonia returns as both soloist and conductor with a new recording of Symphonies 3 & 6 by Jean Sibelius and Stravinsky’s Violin Concerto. All three works were recorded at the home of Northern Sinfonia, The Sage Gateshead and follow critically acclaimed Mozart recordings with Imogen Cooper and a Brahms/Schumann CD which was CD of the month in BBC Music Magazine (July 2007).

Sibelius’ Symphony No. 3 in C major was premiered in 1907 and many argue that it is here that Sibelius’ powers first display themselves in full regalia while Symphony No. 6 (1923) is the purest, most inward, almost hypnotic of his works and in many ways the most fascinating of his symphonies. The Violin Concerto in D, very representative of Stravinsky’s neo-Classical period, received its first performance in Berlin in October 1931 with the composer himself conducting the Berlin Radio Symphony Orchestra.

Northern Sinfonia with its Music Director Thomas Zehetmair command a unique position in Europe, with repertoire spanning three centuries and regularly commissioned new works. Autumn 2008 marked the start of the Orchestra’s 50th Anniversary Season and its fourth year in its own spectacular Norman Foster designed home for music, The Sage Gateshead, wthere it is central to the extensive classical programme.

"With its breathtaking Foster architecture, revolutionary intermingling of educational, community and professional music-making, and passionate support from Gateshead Council, The Sage Gateshead has quickly become the most exciting music venue in Britain — and Northern Sinfonia has raised its game to match its new home." The Times

The second volume of Anthony Collins's Sibelius cycle for Decca, expertly remastered for this reissue, brings the final three symphonies plus all the shorter works of Sibelius from Collins. As a bonus, Thomas Jensen's Karelia Suite, trim, taut and vivid, brings the set to a blazing finish

Finnish conductor Paavo Berglund, who passed away in January 2012, was one of the last remaining conductors with a direct personal connection to Sibelius. With the Second and Seventh Symphonies already released on the LPO Label, Berglund’s Sibelius legacy is further cemented in these live concert recordings with the London Philharmonic Orchestra, in which he vividly captures the natural flight of the Fifth Symphony and the freefall journey of the Sixth.

The affinity Berglund felt with the music of Jean Sibelius went beyond shared nationality and personal acquaintance. Berglund revealed a rare physicality in Sibelius’s scores. It was there in his three recorded symphony cycles, but in these late London performances it emerged in a different, darker light. Berglund wasn’t as meticulous about observing marked tempi as some of his younger compatriots are. Instead he was impulsive, rugged and heartfelt. But his instincts always seemed to serve the musical architecture, the curious symphonic meta-flow unique to Sibelius. His death in January 2012 was talked of as a goodbye to one of the last conductors of the ‘old school’.

With this fourth volume, Finnish conductor Pietari Inkinen completes his cycle of Sibelius’s numbered symphonies, of which the Symphonies Nos. 1 and 3 (8572305) were acclaimed as ‘warm and poignant’ (Classical Music Sentinel), Symphonies Nos. 4 and 5 (8572227) as having ‘raw intensity’ (Guardian) and Symphony No. 2 (8572704) as ‘entrancing … highly recommended’ (Allmusic.com). The tranquil and sunny poetry of Symphony No. 6 joins the majestic single-movement Symphony No. 7, coupled with Finlandia, the work which established Sibelius’s fame and became a symbol of Finnish freedom.

The Royal Stockholm Philharmonic Orchestra conducted by Vladimir Ashkenazy perform symphonies 6 & 7 in this exciting cycle of Sibelius’s symphonies on Exton. Superb recording and a truly inspired performance.

(Also available Symphonies 4 & 5 OVCL00282, 1 & 3 OVCL00279, 2 & “Tapiola” OVCL00292)