# Sibelius 4: favorite recordings?



## Omicron9

Greetings.

The past few months I find myself returning again and again to Sibelius 4. The versions I have are:


Davis/BSO

Karajan/BPO

I also really like the Vänskä/Lahti SO performance on YouTube:






Which others am I missing? What are you favorites of this stunning piece?

Thanks and regards,
-09


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## Triplets

I really like the Karajan. I have the Lahti/Minnesota which isn't nearly as intense. I also have complete cycles by Bergland/Bournemouth and Barbirolli/Halle, but I haven't listened to either 4th for a while


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## Vaneyes

BPO/HvK (EMI, rec.1976). :tiphat:


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## Heck148

Bernstein/NYPO - great sonority...really craggy, cold, has a wonderfully "Arctic" feel to it.
A special moment - Harold "Gomberg's [ObI] perfectly icy, crystal clear oboe solo in mvt II is amazing...what a sound!!
Bernstein's NYPO gets a great sound for Sibelius - ripping, snarling basses, bassoons, big brawny string sound, searing, blazing brasses...I love it...


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## Brahmsian Colors

Maazel/Vienna Philharmonic fills the bill for me.


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## Heck148

Haydn67 said:


> Maazel/Vienna Philharmonic fills the bill for me.


That's a good one...I also like the Toscanini/NBC. AT was a very fine conductor of Sibelius.


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## Pugg

> Bernstein/NYPO - great sonority...really craggy, cold, has a wonderfully "Arctic" feel to it.


This one and Ashkenzay .


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## Omicron9

Heck148 said:


> Bernstein/NYPO - great sonority...really craggy, cold, has a wonderfully "Arctic" feel to it.
> A special moment - Harold "Gomberg's [ObI] perfectly icy, crystal clear oboe solo in mvt II is amazing...what a sound!!
> Bernstein's NYPO gets a great sound for Sibelius - ripping, snarling basses, bassoons, big brawny string sound, searing, blazing brasses...I love it...


Excellent.... off to amazon to see if I can locate a copy. Thank you, Heck!


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## R3PL4Y

I like the Karajan, it is a very intense recording of this symphony. On the other hand, the Minnesota one is really very good, and Vanska is not afraid to have too much empty space in the music, which I think fits very well with this piece.


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## Heck148

Omicron9 said:


> Excellent.... off to amazon to see if I can locate a copy. Thank you, Heck!


Get the complete set - it's wonderful, excellent to great performances of all - 1,3, 7 are top-notch. #5 superlative, non-pareil


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## Omicron9

Heck148 said:


> Get the complete set - it's wonderful, excellent to great performances of all - 1,3, 7 are top-notch. #5 superlative, non-pareil


This one?

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0000027NS/ref=ox_sc_sfl_title_1?ie=UTF8&psc=1&smid=A3KHMEC8P675KP


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## Pugg

Omicron9 said:


> This one?
> 
> https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0000027NS/ref=ox_sc_sfl_title_1?ie=UTF8&psc=1&smid=A3KHMEC8P675KP


I do think this is the right one:


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## Pat Fairlea

Vanska/Lahti. Superb reading of this dark and strange piece. As previous post says, he's not afraid to give it room to breathe.


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## Antiquarian

Berglund/Chamber Orchestra of Europe (1996) Not only the 4th on this disc but also the 6th.(I have it on the Finlandia label) You can't go wrong with Berglund and Sibelius.


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## Ralphus

Recently I'm enjoying

Vanska/Minnesota (Bis)
Davis/LSO (LSO Live)
Kegel/Leipzig Radio (Eterna/Berlin Classics)

As much as I love Sibelius I'm only recently coming to an understanding of (or relationship with) this symphony.


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## Dirge

Karajan/Philharmonia [EMI '53] has emerged as my go-to account of the Sibelius Fourth over the years. Karajan exhibits his usual overarching architectural grip on the work at hand, keeping everything judiciously weighted and balanced and proportioned throughout so that I can better follow along and pretend to make sense of it all (even the final movement), but the performance has a more elemental, less processed/refined (over-processed/over-refined) feel than I associate with Karajan's later recordings-how much of this is the orchestra, producer, and recording and how much is Karajan is hard to say, but certainly Karajan is less obsessed here with sheer beauty of sound, especially of the corporate strings, than he would become. EMI's recorded sound is excellent by 1953 mono standards.


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## JACE

I'd probably go with *Sir John Barbirolli & the Hallé Orchestra* as my first choice.


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## chalkpie

Pat Fairlea said:


> Vanska/Lahti. Superb reading of this dark and strange piece. As previous post says, he's not afraid to give it room to breathe.


Agreed 100%. Try Segerstam's also.


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## Pugg

Leaning toward Bernstein now.


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## chalkpie

The beginning always reminds me of some guy lost in northern Norway in the deep winter with the northern lights overhead. Its mostly grim in the beginning but there is always a sense of hope, and the music does turn that way (albeit briefly). That's what I "see" anyway! Such a BRILLIANT piece. The third movement might the be the single greatest movement in all of Sibelius' symphonies - for me at least.


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## Brahmsian Colors

I failed to mention previously the vivid imagery of this work as revealed by Vanska and the Lahti Symphony. A rehearing has reaffirmed that. Virtually every nook and cranny of the Fourth's austere landscape is explored.


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