Personally, I'm very found of the 1962 Barbirolli version of Sibelius Symphony No. 2. The story goes, I seem to remember, that it was his mother's favourite piece of music. On a first weekend Barbirolli recorded the first two movements, and the next weekend he completed the recording. Incredibly, in the intervening week his mother died. The intensity of what some reviewer called once "beautifully controlled emotion" I find quite breathtaking
Szell is my absolute favorite, but if you're a Sibelius fan, a Sibelius 2 performance worth checking out is Carl von Garaguly and the Leipzig Gewandhaus on Eterna (if you don't mind the slightly scruffy GDR recording). They really get it! He also did a very good No. 1 and No. 7 with the Dresden Philharmonic. All three are "let it all hang out" performances.
For the last couple of months I've been picking a conductor and listening to every album he/she recorded. Just a week or so ago I listened to Szell's Sibelius 2. I knew I was in front of greatness from the beginning. Cool to see it's a reference album!
Oh, what a wonderful day...finally, I'm allowed into consensus-heaven! Amen and Halleluja to every word said in this video! 😇 PS. Maybe not in the league of the recordings under discussion here, a guilty pleasure has always been Beecham's live 1954 performance with the BBC Symphony Orchestra...not as polished as the Szell/Barbirolli triptych, but darn viscerally exciting... Beecham in the finale driving the climaxes home by grunts, vocal outbursts and exhortations. I definately wouldn't recommend this as your only Sibelius 2-recording, but for my own part wouldn't want to live without it!
Szell / Concertgbouw is on qobuz as a hires remaster. The Tokyo is there too. The Barbirolli is there on the Reader Digest label. Readers Digest released some interesting recordings. Weren't the Earl Wild Rach concertos on RD?
Yes again David! Barbirolli and the two Szell recordings are choice. I personally prefer the live Szell 1970 performance. There is also a live Concertgebouw with Szell from 1964. In comparison with the live 1964 it is fascinating that within a hair's breathe of time differences the 1970 performance is more nuanced, with greater dynamic contrast and seems less rushed. Great conducting is not necessarily about fast or slow but what the conductor does with his time on the podium and Szell does a lot with this one. Side note: Often forgotten: Szell was principal conductor of the Concertgebouw with Van Beinum from 1958-1961 and after that guest conductor until his passing. Maybe Concertgebouw Radio Recordings will issue a Szell box? That would be great.
Good choice both for a work with clear reference recordings and which performances stand out. Chesty had issued the Barbirolli and the sound is excellent. And you are so right about Szell. Also, both performances showcase the work so well.
The Barbirolli/Royal Philharmonic recording from 1962, produced by the legendary Charles Gerhardt for Readers Digest and (I believe) engineered by Kenneth Wilkinson, was reissued on vinyl LP and cassette in 1975 by the Quintessence label. The Chesky reissue on vinyl LP and CD came out in 1987. Also note that an extraordinary 1964 Barbirolli/Boston Symphony live performance has circulated in the classical-music-bootlegs underground - some of the bootlegs are mono and a few are in glorious stereo as transcribed by Boston's WGBH for broadcast syndication by the Boston Symphony Transcription Trust. That live Barbirolli is actually my personal favorite of the many I've heard over my lifetime, but both of your choices definitely are excellent references.
I had found a marvellously sounding SACD of the Szell after you had mentioned it in a previous video. You also spoke of the Barbirolli at the time but I forgot. After today’s friendly reminder I will find it somewhere, too. Great stuff. Thank you so much!
@@DavesClassicalGuide I’m sorry Dave but this time I disagree and I try to tell you why: Michelangeli combines flow, virtuoso dash, fantasy and noble eloquence and crowns the structural highpoints of the score in a way that lifts us out of our seat. And what about the tone colors he is able to draw from the instrument?
I won't take it personally if you slam me for this, Dave, but I keep returning to my Schippers/NYPO cut-out vinyl version. I like his tempi and dynamics.
Sidebar note: the cover artwork of the first U.S.-pressed Philips LP release of the Szell/Concertgebouw Sibelius 2 had cover art depicting a very, very dark ocean beach with the tide lapping at the shore. It wasn't visually attractive! I doubt the dreary cover art helped sales of the LP at the time. When Philips switched all of its U.S. releases to imported Dutch pressings around 1971, the dreary cover artwork was replaced with the rather generic white artwork used for the European releases.
Osmo Vänskä has been described as 'our greatest living Sibelian' (The Sunday Times, UK), a reputation which is founded not least on his two symphony cycles on disc, both released by BIS. The first one was recorded in 1996-97 with the Lahti Symphony Orchestra, and firmly established Vänskä as a force to be reckoned with. 14 years later he returned to the studio for a second cycle, now with the Minnesota Orchestra, of which he has been music director since 2003. The Minnesota recordings were released on three discs during the years 2012 - 2016 to critical acclaim: besides top marks from reviewers around the world, the series garnered distinctions such as Editor's Choice (Gramophone), Orchestral Choice (BBC Music Magazine) and Recording of the month (MusicWeb International). The disc of Symphonies Nos 2 and 5 was included on the New York Times list of the Best Classical Music Recordings of 2012 and nominated to a Grammy for Best Orchestral Recording, an award which it's sequel (Nos 1 & 4) received the following year. Recommended by the German web site Klassik. Com upon it's release, the final album, with Symphonies Nos 3, 6 and 7, was recently included on Gramophone's list of 'Top 10 Sibelius recordings'. The three releases have now been gathered into a box set, with the addition of the same team's 2016 recording of Kullervo, Sibelius's first large-scale orchestral work and sometimes called his 'choral symphony'.@@DavesClassicalGuide
The Barbirolli 2nd with the Royal Phil can be found in Apple Music under the title, "Sibelius: Symphony No. 2 in D Major; Finlandia; Karelia Suite. Various Artists". This collection includes a performance of "Be Still, My Soul" (melody from "Finlandia") played by the Sunset Strings.
The George Szell recording with the Concertgebouw is definitely available for streaming. I listen to it on Apple Music. When it comes to availability and convenience, music lovers are now living in the best of times.
I love this series. Thank you. Here are a few randon suggestions (some are favorite of mine, some are not): Allegri: Miserere - Thallis Scholars (1980) Bach: Goldberg variations - Glenn Gould (both recordings, I guess) Mozart: Divertimento k.563 - Grumiaux Trio Berlioz: Symphonie fantastique - Charles Munch, BSO Schubert: Winterreise - Fischer-Dieskau, Gerlad Moore (1963 or 1972) Mendelssohn: Lieder ohne Worte - Daniel Barenboim Schumann: Symphonies - Wolfgang Sawallisch Brahms: 4th Symphomy - Carlos Kleiber Franck: Symphony in D minor - Pierre Monteux Mahler: 1st Symphony - Rafael Kubelik
I should listen to that Barbirolli recording someday. I didn't particularly like the recording made with the Hallé Orchestra, so I haven't explored that one. But I love George Szell's Sibelius recordings. I can't stand how Sibelius's Second Symphony has become over time such a stiff, slow-tempo-dominated national monument. The symphony is full of Sibelius's most passionate and joyful music. The interpretation of the Second Symphony should get one's blood flowing, and Szell really knows how to do that.
According to Philip Stuart's Decca Classical generally quite reliable discography (on page311), the Barbirolli Royal Phil Sibelius Sym.2 was recorded on 1 & 9 Oct. 1962 at Walthamstow (Charles Gerhart, producer & Kenneth Wilkinson engineer). In between the two dates the Royal Phil was busy recording other items including one of the last (the final?) by Fritz Reiner - Brahms Sym. 4 (2, 3 &5 Oct.). For most, if not all, the Reader Digest recordings from London in that era a Decca team was hired to make the recordings.
... and in the late 1930's competed briefly for the same woman: Evelyn Rothwell. She was a superb oboist and Szell took a shine to her. I think Barbirolli angrily ripped up a little piece he had written for her. Sir John won her heart ultimately and Rothwell became Evelyn, Lady Barbirolli. Ironic timing on the departures.
Dave, Thanks to alerting us to Szell’s Live Tokyo performance. I listened on download today. Simply transcendent. A sublime valedictory for an artist of the highest order with an orchestra to match . 🙌🙌🙌🙌🙏🙏🙏🙏
What a terrific video--not only for having identified TWO bona fide reference recordings of the Sibelius 2nd, but for having observed that this consensus view is one of the "rare" occasions when partisans of each approach (or each conductor) have no trouble admitting that such distinct but distinctly satisfying interpretations can legitimately be considered reference points. You really put your finger on what the actual experience of listening to each recording is like. As an entrenched Barbirolli-ite, I'm naturally knocked out by what he does in his characteristic way with the RPO here AND YET when I turn to the Szell, as I often do, I get the same feeling of exhilaration as with Barbirolli--for different reasons, certainly, but the pleasure, the joy in the music-making, the thrill of experiencing the music itself, is no less intense. And I really do think that is rare: when such different (usually competing) readings both seem to deliver everything you want from the work. It's what's so great about the idea of a reference recording at all: listen to these and you'll get a pretty comprehensive sense of the music's possibilities. And we're all enriched having that in front of us.
As it happens I ordered the Szell one with the RCO on Presto (item 4646822) this week. It's been licensed to them and they make the cd on demand. It's on Spotify too, but with different versions through various labels. I guess the recording is in the public domain now?
You've done four recordings and after checking my shelves, i have all four....I guess i've appreciated "reference recordings" without realizing they are reference recordings.
Three versions of Sibelius 2nd, and all of them can hold their heads high as being "Reference Recordings" and the greatest versions of the work ever recorded. Can life get any better than that? :) Thanks Dave!
Are there examples of reference recordings that don't, in your opinion, deserve their reputations? Or is it impossible for a poor recording to gain something close to consensus admiration among critics?
Hi Dave -- I'm just starting to learn about classical music, and I admit I'm a bit overwhelmed. I was hoping to find a list or series about pieces that everyone should be familiar with -- would these reference recordings qualify? Or do you have a separate series covering that topic?
Have a look at the Essential Lists for Beginners playlist, or the Classical Music for Beginners playlist, and find something that interests you. When you do, take your time! There's no rush. Here's one of those playlists: th-cam.com/play/PLAjIX596BriH_zrQze2Baqz0RwtqxR5SS.html
Dear Dave, your list of reference recordings has got me thinking on the subject of objectivity in music, which you seem very much to endorse. I remember in one video you expressed frustration with conductors whose performances were inconsistent because on any given night they might have some new revelation of the work's meaning. "At some point," you said, "a conductor has to make decide what he thinks about the music." It reminds me of Toscanini's remark about the Eroica that some see in it Napoleon, Mussolini, whatever, whereupon he added, "bah! to me it is simply allegro con brio." The problem is, though, that if allegro con brio meant one thing only, then every performance would be identical. More than that, the richness of all these recordings shows that the music can mean more than one thing. How do you understand the dividing line between "objective performance of the music" and those who are more intentional about providing their own interpretation of the music? Thank you, and I apologize if I've rambled on a bit.
There is no such thing as an objective performance of the music. All I meant is exactly what I said. I'm not sure how you took that to mean what you said about it.
The Reference Recordings series has made this channel even richer in terms of being a touchpoint for knowledge, I'm finding it very helpful.
Thank you. That's good to know.
Personally, I'm very found of the 1962 Barbirolli version of Sibelius Symphony No. 2. The story goes, I seem to remember, that it was his mother's favourite piece of music. On a first weekend Barbirolli recorded the first two movements, and the next weekend he completed the recording. Incredibly, in the intervening week his mother died. The intensity of what some reviewer called once "beautifully controlled emotion" I find quite breathtaking
I had the Sibelius on vinyl and loved it. One of the best recording feats ever. Everything just seemed to click. Great memories indeed.
Reader's Digest was nothing to be frowned upon back in the day. Some of my finest Dolly Parton and Satchmo editions
Thanks, I've heard that 1970 recording. Great!! I'll look up the Barbirolli.
Just two marvelous recordings...didn't know the Barbirolli one...thanks for that!
Szell is my absolute favorite, but if you're a Sibelius fan, a Sibelius 2 performance worth checking out is Carl von Garaguly and the Leipzig Gewandhaus on Eterna (if you don't mind the slightly scruffy GDR recording). They really get it! He also did a very good No. 1 and No. 7 with the Dresden Philharmonic. All three are "let it all hang out" performances.
Enjoying these reference recordings videos. BTW, I would say the black Classics Today T-shirt looks the sharpest. 👍
It's actually dark green (if you mean the one I'm wearing). But thanks!
@@DavesClassicalGuide oh, I see. Looked black on video. But that one I think looks the best.
For the last couple of months I've been picking a conductor and listening to every album he/she recorded. Just a week or so ago I listened to Szell's Sibelius 2. I knew I was in front of greatness from the beginning. Cool to see it's a reference album!
Oh, what a wonderful day...finally, I'm allowed into consensus-heaven! Amen and Halleluja to every word said in this video! 😇
PS. Maybe not in the league of the recordings under discussion here, a guilty pleasure has always been Beecham's live 1954 performance with the BBC Symphony Orchestra...not as polished as the Szell/Barbirolli triptych, but darn viscerally exciting... Beecham in the finale driving the climaxes home by grunts, vocal outbursts and exhortations. I definately wouldn't recommend this as your only Sibelius 2-recording, but for my own part wouldn't want to live without it!
Szell / Concertgbouw is on qobuz as a hires remaster. The Tokyo is there too. The Barbirolli is there on the Reader Digest label. Readers Digest released some interesting recordings. Weren't the Earl Wild Rach concertos on RD?
Is the live one under Urania Records and the studio recording under Alexandre Bak? Thanks 👍🏻
Yes again David! Barbirolli and the two Szell recordings are choice.
I personally prefer the live Szell 1970 performance. There is also a live Concertgebouw with Szell from 1964. In comparison with the live 1964 it is fascinating that within a hair's breathe of time differences the 1970 performance is more nuanced, with greater dynamic contrast and seems less rushed. Great conducting is not necessarily about fast or slow but what the conductor does with his time on the podium and Szell does a lot with this one. Side note: Often forgotten: Szell was principal conductor of the Concertgebouw with Van Beinum from 1958-1961 and after that guest conductor until his passing. Maybe Concertgebouw Radio Recordings will issue a Szell box? That would be great.
Good choice both for a work with clear reference recordings and which performances stand out. Chesty had issued the Barbirolli and the sound is excellent. And you are so right about Szell. Also, both performances showcase the work so well.
The Barbirolli/Royal Philharmonic recording from 1962, produced by the legendary Charles Gerhardt for Readers Digest and (I believe) engineered by Kenneth Wilkinson, was reissued on vinyl LP and cassette in 1975 by the Quintessence label. The Chesky reissue on vinyl LP and CD came out in 1987. Also note that an extraordinary 1964 Barbirolli/Boston Symphony live performance has circulated in the classical-music-bootlegs underground - some of the bootlegs are mono and a few are in glorious stereo as transcribed by Boston's WGBH for broadcast syndication by the Boston Symphony Transcription Trust. That live Barbirolli is actually my personal favorite of the many I've heard over my lifetime, but both of your choices definitely are excellent references.
I had found a marvellously sounding SACD of the Szell after you had mentioned it in a previous video. You also spoke of the Barbirolli at the time but I forgot. After today’s friendly reminder I will find it somewhere, too. Great stuff. Thank you so much!
A reference recording is Grieg piano concerto played by Michelangeli for BBC legends
No.
@@DavesClassicalGuide I’m sorry Dave but this time I disagree and I try to tell you why: Michelangeli combines flow, virtuoso dash, fantasy and noble eloquence and crowns the structural highpoints of the score in a way that lifts us out of our seat. And what about the tone colors he is able to draw from the instrument?
I won't take it personally if you slam me for this, Dave, but I keep returning to my Schippers/NYPO cut-out vinyl version. I like his tempi and dynamics.
You like what you like. That has nothing to do with the subject of this video.
Sidebar note: the cover artwork of the first U.S.-pressed Philips LP release of the Szell/Concertgebouw Sibelius 2 had cover art depicting a very, very dark ocean beach with the tide lapping at the shore. It wasn't visually attractive! I doubt the dreary cover art helped sales of the LP at the time. When Philips switched all of its U.S. releases to imported Dutch pressings around 1971, the dreary cover artwork was replaced with the rather generic white artwork used for the European releases.
I put my money into the Minnesota Orchestra's recent Sibelius Symphony Collection under Finnish conductor Osmo Vanska.
And you wasted it big time.
Osmo Vänskä has been described as 'our greatest living Sibelian' (The Sunday Times, UK), a reputation which is founded not least on his two symphony cycles on disc, both released by BIS. The first one was recorded in 1996-97 with the Lahti Symphony Orchestra, and firmly established Vänskä as a force to be reckoned with. 14 years later he returned to the studio for a second cycle, now with the Minnesota Orchestra, of which he has been music director since 2003. The Minnesota recordings were released on three discs during the years 2012 - 2016 to critical acclaim: besides top marks from reviewers around the world, the series garnered distinctions such as Editor's Choice (Gramophone), Orchestral Choice (BBC Music Magazine) and Recording of the month (MusicWeb International). The disc of Symphonies Nos 2 and 5 was included on the New York Times list of the Best Classical Music Recordings of 2012 and nominated to a Grammy for Best Orchestral Recording, an award which it's sequel (Nos 1 & 4) received the following year. Recommended by the German web site Klassik. Com upon it's release, the final album, with Symphonies Nos 3, 6 and 7, was recently included on Gramophone's list of 'Top 10 Sibelius recordings'. The three releases have now been gathered into a box set, with the addition of the same team's 2016 recording of Kullervo, Sibelius's first large-scale orchestral work and sometimes called his 'choral symphony'.@@DavesClassicalGuide
The Barbirolli 2nd with the Royal Phil can be found in Apple Music under the title, "Sibelius: Symphony No. 2 in D Major; Finlandia; Karelia Suite. Various Artists". This collection includes a performance of "Be Still, My Soul" (melody from "Finlandia") played by the Sunset Strings.
Thank you! I would never have found it otherwise
The George Szell recording with the Concertgebouw is definitely available for streaming. I listen to it on Apple Music. When it comes to availability and convenience, music lovers are now living in the best of times.
My words...remembering the old times when we had to take what the radio served us...ayyyy!
I love this series. Thank you.
Here are a few randon suggestions (some are favorite of mine, some are not):
Allegri: Miserere - Thallis Scholars (1980)
Bach: Goldberg variations - Glenn Gould (both recordings, I guess)
Mozart: Divertimento k.563 - Grumiaux Trio
Berlioz: Symphonie fantastique - Charles Munch, BSO
Schubert: Winterreise - Fischer-Dieskau, Gerlad Moore (1963 or 1972)
Mendelssohn: Lieder ohne Worte - Daniel Barenboim
Schumann: Symphonies - Wolfgang Sawallisch
Brahms: 4th Symphomy - Carlos Kleiber
Franck: Symphony in D minor - Pierre Monteux
Mahler: 1st Symphony - Rafael Kubelik
I should listen to that Barbirolli recording someday. I didn't particularly like the recording made with the Hallé Orchestra, so I haven't explored that one. But I love George Szell's Sibelius recordings. I can't stand how Sibelius's Second Symphony has become over time such a stiff, slow-tempo-dominated national monument. The symphony is full of Sibelius's most passionate and joyful music. The interpretation of the Second Symphony should get one's blood flowing, and Szell really knows how to do that.
According to Philip Stuart's Decca Classical generally quite reliable discography (on page311), the Barbirolli Royal Phil Sibelius Sym.2 was recorded on 1 & 9 Oct. 1962 at Walthamstow (Charles Gerhart, producer & Kenneth Wilkinson engineer). In between the two dates the Royal Phil was busy recording other items including one of the last (the final?) by Fritz Reiner - Brahms Sym. 4 (2, 3 &5 Oct.). For most, if not all, the Reader Digest recordings from London in that era a Decca team was hired to make the recordings.
Two great conductors who died a day apart in July 1970. RIP.
That's a good observation! I hadn't noticed that before.
... and in the late 1930's competed briefly for the same woman: Evelyn Rothwell. She was a superb oboist and Szell took a shine to her. I think Barbirolli angrily ripped up a little piece he had written for her. Sir John won her heart ultimately and Rothwell became Evelyn, Lady Barbirolli. Ironic timing on the departures.
@@MrTomsudholt thank you for that. We live and learn.
Dave, Thanks to alerting us to Szell’s Live Tokyo performance. I listened on download today. Simply transcendent. A sublime valedictory for an artist of the highest order with an orchestra to match . 🙌🙌🙌🙌🙏🙏🙏🙏
What a terrific video--not only for having identified TWO bona fide reference recordings of the Sibelius 2nd, but for having observed that this consensus view is one of the "rare" occasions when partisans of each approach (or each conductor) have no trouble admitting that such distinct but distinctly satisfying interpretations can legitimately be considered reference points. You really put your finger on what the actual experience of listening to each recording is like. As an entrenched Barbirolli-ite, I'm naturally knocked out by what he does in his characteristic way with the RPO here AND YET when I turn to the Szell, as I often do, I get the same feeling of exhilaration as with Barbirolli--for different reasons, certainly, but the pleasure, the joy in the music-making, the thrill of experiencing the music itself, is no less intense. And I really do think that is rare: when such different (usually competing) readings both seem to deliver everything you want from the work. It's what's so great about the idea of a reference recording at all: listen to these and you'll get a pretty comprehensive sense of the music's possibilities. And we're all enriched having that in front of us.
Where does Koussevitsky's 1950 recording (BSO, mono, originally issued on RCA Camden, if memory serves) fall into the pantheon of Sib2's for you?
It's irrelevant.
@@DavesClassicalGuideOr "irreferent?"
As it happens I ordered the Szell one with the RCO on Presto (item 4646822) this week. It's been licensed to them and they make the cd on demand. It's on Spotify too, but with different versions through various labels. I guess the recording is in the public domain now?
You've done four recordings and after checking my shelves, i have all four....I guess i've appreciated "reference recordings" without realizing they are reference recordings.
Three versions of Sibelius 2nd, and all of them can hold their heads high as being "Reference Recordings" and the greatest versions of the work ever recorded. Can life get any better than that? :) Thanks Dave!
Are there examples of reference recordings that don't, in your opinion, deserve their reputations? Or is it impossible for a poor recording to gain something close to consensus admiration among critics?
Hi Dave -- I'm just starting to learn about classical music, and I admit I'm a bit overwhelmed. I was hoping to find a list or series about pieces that everyone should be familiar with -- would these reference recordings qualify? Or do you have a separate series covering that topic?
Have a look at the Essential Lists for Beginners playlist, or the Classical Music for Beginners playlist, and find something that interests you. When you do, take your time! There's no rush. Here's one of those playlists:
th-cam.com/play/PLAjIX596BriH_zrQze2Baqz0RwtqxR5SS.html
@@DavesClassicalGuideThank you, Dave! Much appreciated
Dear Dave, your list of reference recordings has got me thinking on the subject of objectivity in music, which you seem very much to endorse. I remember in one video you expressed frustration with conductors whose performances were inconsistent because on any given night they might have some new revelation of the work's meaning. "At some point," you said, "a conductor has to make decide what he thinks about the music." It reminds me of Toscanini's remark about the Eroica that some see in it Napoleon, Mussolini, whatever, whereupon he added, "bah! to me it is simply allegro con brio." The problem is, though, that if allegro con brio meant one thing only, then every performance would be identical. More than that, the richness of all these recordings shows that the music can mean more than one thing. How do you understand the dividing line between "objective performance of the music" and those who are more intentional about providing their own interpretation of the music? Thank you, and I apologize if I've rambled on a bit.
There is no such thing as an objective performance of the music. All I meant is exactly what I said. I'm not sure how you took that to mean what you said about it.
My mistake -- I read too much into what you said. Thanks for responding. @@DavesClassicalGuide