# SS 15.11.14 - Sibelius #6



## realdealblues

A continuation of the Saturday Symphonies Tradition:

Welcome to another weekend of symphonic listening!

For your listening pleasure this weekend:*

Jean Sibelius (1865 - 1957)*

Symphony No. 6 in D minor, Op. 104

1. Allegro molto moderato
2. Allegretto moderato
3. Poco vivace
4. Allegro molto

---------------------

Post what recording you are going to listen to giving details of Orchestra / Conductor / Chorus / Soloists etc - Enjoy!


----------



## realdealblues

Another great symphony this weekend. Sibelius's 6th is one of his best. I usually go with Leonard Bernstein for this symphony because he's one of the few to take the conductor at his word in the final movement's bridge passage from allegro moto to allegro assai, so I think I'll give my old standby a spin, but I think I'll also give Herbert Von Karajan a spin as well since I've been spending a lot of time with his DG Box Sets lately. Plus, it's cold and snowing here so it's a good one to make a two-fer weekend out of.

View attachment 55950


Leonard Bernstein/New York Philharmonic

View attachment 55953


Herbert Von Karajan/Berlin Philharmonic


----------



## Jeff W

I'm in on this one. Osmo Vanska and the Lahti Symphony Orchestra for me. It may seem a little odd, but, I like playing the Sixth and Seventh back to back...


----------



## JACE

I'm in!  I'll go with...









Ashkenazy, Philharmonia Orchestra









Barbirolli, Hallé Orchestra


----------



## Mahlerian

Berglund/Bournemouth for me. This symphony strikes me as a bit odd in a number of ways. It's probably one of his most characteristic.


----------



## Blancrocher

I'll listen to Karajan & co (DG), for the umpteenth time. I love this symphony--glad to have this excuse to return to Sibelius this weekend.


----------



## Zarathustra

I just listened to Berglund also. I had been listening to the 5th when I read this thread.


----------



## D Smith

Double bill of Karajan/Philharmonia then Vanska here. This is one of my favorite pieces.


----------



## omega

Sir Colin Davis, LSO (RCA 1994)


----------



## csacks

Osmo Vanska and the Lathi Symphony Orchestra for me as well. Beautiful symphony


----------



## nightscape

Jeff W said:


> View attachment 55956
> 
> 
> I'm in on this one. Osmo Vanska and the Lahti Symphony Orchestra for me. It may seem a little odd, but, I like playing the Sixth and Seventh back to back...


I'm going with Vanska/Lahti as well. Rattle conducted the Sixth and Seventh in Philadelphia a couple years ago, back to back, without break. Seemed a bit odd to me. I would rather he stopped in between for applause and recognition of the works separately.


----------



## ptr

Leif Segerstam/Helsinki Phil on Ondine (Stunning!)










Anthony Collins/LSO on Decca (wonderful!)










Sakari Oramo/CBSO on Warner (Interesting, lively!)

/ptr


----------



## Richannes Wrahms

Mahlerian said:


> Berglund/Bournemouth for me. This symphony strikes me as a bit odd in a number of ways. It's probably one of his most characteristic.


Many have been puzzled by the sixth, some famous dude wrote a blog about it calling it 'The Enigma Code'. It is certainly one of his most weird both in harmony and form. It has been hailed as his most 'Finnish' symphony because:


http://www.sibelius.fi/english/musiikki/ork_sinf_06.htm said:


> The notes from the opening belong to the Dorian mode, D-E-F-G-A, lacking only the notes B and C. There is a clear connection with Sibelius's trial lecture of 1896: "The oldest Finnish folk tunes are based on a tonal system which lacks the tonic and the dominant as we understand them. They also lack the finalis of the old Greek keys. There are simply five notes - D, E, F, G, A - which become additionally combined with the two notes B and C as the melody grows more expressive."


I often listen only to the first (I would say perfectly crafted) and third movements. I think the second and fourth movements could have been much more polished or the whole thing reworked to the model of the 7th (also originally called a Fantasia, intended to be a 'Hellenic Rondo' as Aallottaret Op. 73 was to be called 'Rondo of the Waves').

Sibelius called it both 'a poem' and 'a confession' (like the 4th); said about it that "Rage and passion (…) are utterly essential in it, but it is supported by undercurrents deep under the surface of the music" and there's the famous "a symphony should be like a river (...)".

;

I'll go with Maazel and the Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra, a rather contemplative and very well handled look on the work.


----------



## Haydn man

Jeff W said:


> View attachment 55956
> 
> 
> I'm in on this one. Osmo Vanska and the Lahti Symphony Orchestra for me. It may seem a little odd, but, I like playing the Sixth and Seventh back to back...


Yes I think I am going to do the same
Great symphony this week


----------



## hpowders

With an increase in Sibelius activity, it must mean the cold weather is coming from the North.


----------



## Vaneyes

*Sibelius*: Symphony 6, w. BPO/HvK (rec.1980, ART remastering 2001)


----------



## Jeff W

hpowders said:


> With an increase in Sibelius activity, it must mean the cold weather is coming from the North.


I've been waiting for a chance to use this:


----------



## samurai

I'll be going with Lorin Maazel and the Vienna Philharmonic.


----------



## senza sordino

I have two versions of this symphony
View attachment 56031

View attachment 56032

I've had the Davis version for years, but the Berglund version I bought earlier this year. I am totally digging the Berglund disk so I might spin that one on Saturday.

Here's a photo I took of the Sibelius monument in Helsinki 10 years ago. 
View attachment 56034


----------



## brotagonist

I was wondering what happened to this week's SS. However did I miss this?

I've got the Karajan/BPO set, but I think I'll see what I can find on YT first (stay tuned  ), and then revert to my set as a second version, if I feel up to it.


----------



## Mika

Maazel & Vienna


----------



## techniquest

Well, since no one else has chosen it yet, I'll go with this one from the Brilliant Classics complete symphonies set.


----------



## Balthazar

I'll join in with Lorin Maazel and the Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra.


----------



## techniquest

Well, I have just listened to the 6th in the Sanderling recording as noted above. Must admit, I'm not keen on this symphony - it seems to go well off the boil after the first movement, not the right thing to say I know, but I can only write about how I personally perceive the work. Oddly, the harp part in the 3rd movement sounds almost like a guitar in this recording (I had to double-check the instrumentation of the piece just to be certain).
I am far more enjoying the 7th symphony which follows on from the 6th on this disc.


----------



## Itullian

From this classic set.


----------



## BartokPizz

"Saturday symphony" is a nice idea. My go-to 6th is Paavo Berglund: Helsinki Philharmonic.

EDIT: I see Itullian got there first!


----------



## hpowders

Sir Colin Davis and the Boston Symphony are as good as it gets in Sibelius 6.


----------



## GreenMamba

I have - and will be listening to - the Colin Davis London Symphony recording, which seems to receive lesser acclaim than his with Boston. I like it though. Maybe I don't know any better.


----------



## Itullian

GreenMamba said:


> I have - and will be listening to - the Colin Davis London Symphony recording, which seems to receive lesser acclaim than his with Boston. I like it though. Maybe I don't know any better.


I like it too...........


----------



## hpowders

hpowders said:


> Sir Colin Davis and the Boston Symphony are as good as it gets in Sibelius 6.


Yes! Just played it. This is as good as it gets.


----------



## LancsMan

Giving this a listen before bed. One of Karajan's and the BPO's best recordings.

This symphony is almost a polar opposite to the 4th, which I also love. It is so refreshing in it's apparent simplicity, and seeming lack of angst. There are of course undercurrents of a haunting melancholy, and actually there is a fair bit of tension as well as release on the journey. I do think this symphony is unique and goes it's own path.

In passing I must add that this piece evokes landscape and nature for me. I'm a keen hiker and love spending time in the wilder places of Northern Britain. OK it's not Finland but there is an austerity and coldness on the British hills that I imagine have a correspondence to Finland, and this music seems to match this mood.


----------



## Autocrat

Neeme Jarvi, Gothenburg Symph for me at my desk, via Spotify.

Back in half an hour - will seem like a ditty compared to the Mahler and Bruckner behemoths!


----------



## Tero

One of my favorites. Mostly the Vänskä but I can play Bernstein or Karajan. Not so much Berglund, Berglund is fine in all the other symphonies.


----------



## Brahmsian Colors

Vanska's obvious affinity for Sibelius especially rings true in his version of the Sixth with the Lahti Symphony. It is my first choice. Otherwise, I like Collins/London Symphony, Karajan/Berlin Philharmonic on EMI and Segerstam/Helsinki Philharmonic.


----------

