Sibelius symphonies
It’s more exciting, with a particularly eruptive account of the finale, and the transition between the two halves of the first movement is more effectively managed than before. This new Fifth Symphony constitutes the biggest improvement over Järvi’s previous effort. Throughout the work the horns do a memorable job, particularly in the many episodes calling for those snarling stopped tones. This time around Järvi opts for glockenspiel alone in the percussion department, without additional help from tubular bells.
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He catches the slow movement’s desolation without stretching it to expressionistic lengths (choose Vänskä for that), but he grinds out the symphony’s final climax and devastating collapse with tremendous power. In the Fourth, the Gothenburg strings have cleaned up their act in the outer movements, playing with greater rhythmic precision and unanimity of ensemble, while Järvi once again allows himself more latitude in terms of tempo variation, particularly in the scherzo and finale.
SIBELIUS SYMPHONIES HOW TO
Järvi builds the finale’s closing hymn very effectively, and he understands how to handle the closing measures so that they sound natural rather than arbitrary.
SIBELIUS SYMPHONIES FREE
The Third Symphony was a highlight of Järvi’s first cycle, and so it remains: a refreshing, vital interpretation, here a bit more free of tempo in the second movement and finale, and more artfully phrased in general. It’s not Szell/Cleveland (live in Tokyo), but then, what is? Still, the performance gathers steam as it goes, with the scherzo and finale having impressive drive and drama.
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Järvi’s first recording was daringly fast, but this newcomer adopts more standard tempos, which means that the opening movement isn’t quite as snappy as previously. 1 and in the finale’s Tchaikovskian big tune, and he imposes a massive ritard on the work’s final measures, but otherwise he leads an exciting, passionate performance with a particularly fine andante and scherzo.
![sibelius symphonies sibelius symphonies](https://d27t0qkxhe4r68.cloudfront.net/t_900/761195100721.jpg)
Järvi is a bit lyrically self-indulgent in the first movement of No. The first two symphonies are live recordings, before a very well-behaved audience, and both are very good. Perhaps unsurprisingly, this new Sibelius cycle from Neeme Järvi is a mixed bag, and by no means a unilateral improvement over his previous BIS cycle, despite the fact that the Gothenburg Symphony is a finer orchestra than it was two decades ago.