# The Sibelius Symphonies - #2 in D



## Becca (Feb 5, 2015)

Continuing through the Sibelius symphonies...

The 2nd is probably the most well known and popular of the 7. It is one in which Sibelius really started to find his 'voice' - _"My second symphony is a confession of the soul."_

Interestingly it was started while Sibelius was staying in Italy which makes me wonder just how much of the very different atmosphere made its way into the piece.

Over the years I have had and heard many different versions but as of now there are 3 in my collection:

Barbirolli - Royal Philharmonic
Karajan - Philharmonia
C. Davis - Boston Symphony

I have also some familiarity with Barbirolli/Halle, Berglund/Bournemouth and Rattle/Berlin (the first of his 2 Sibelius cycles.)

Of the 3, the Davis was my favourite for a long time but I admit to not having listened to it for quite a while. I was persuaded to listen to the HvK recording some years ago and am glad of it as I think it represents some of his best work. However, having said that, the Barbirolli/RPO trumps all, a totally driven performance that never lets go of the listener.


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## philoctetes (Jun 15, 2017)

This is one that I've never found the perfect recording but I haven't heard RPO / Barbirolli... like the end of #5, the finale is one of the most visual moments in Sibelius for me and some conductors fuss with it... Segerstam is frustrating he gets a horn sound I like and then jerks the rhythm around... Karajan is very expansive, requiring I be in the right mood for that... 

Heard it live once and the wind section fell apart in the opening theme - ugh!


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## Becca (Feb 5, 2015)

philoctetes said:


> This is one that I've never found the perfect recording *but I haven't heard RPO / Barbirolli*...


You should....


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## Itullian (Aug 27, 2011)

I love the Karajan EMI digital recording. It's monumental.
Also like Vanska, Lahti, Barbirolli, Berglund Helsinki


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## philoctetes (Jun 15, 2017)

Thanks it's playing now... another I should hear again is Anthony Collins...


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## philoctetes (Jun 15, 2017)

Itullian said:


> I love the Karajan EMI digital recording. It's monumental.
> Also like Vanska, Lahti, Barbirolli, Berglund Helsinki


The notes for this Brago-Santos refer to this kind of music as "monumentalism", as if it's a common term, but I've never seen it elsewhere. I agree the Vanska may have been a highlight of first set... going by memory. Berglund / Helsinki totally lost me in the woods... but their 3 and 6 are in my top tier...


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## philoctetes (Jun 15, 2017)

I'm now in the second movements where Sibelius meanders a lot and Barbirolli knows where he's going. Nice.


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## Kiki (Aug 15, 2018)

I often see in my head a turbulent ocean at work when listening to Sibelius 2? Also think this is what The Oceanides should have been like (The Oceanides is too short and too simple and often left me feeling unfulfilled...)

Apart from the usual suspects, I find Barbirolli/RPO, Szell/Concertgebouw and Berglund/LPO quite special. No one likes Ashkenazy? I like the clean bare-bone-ness of it very much.


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## Heck148 (Oct 27, 2016)

Sibelius #2 is his most often programmed symphony, iirc...it is a fine work, great to hear live, and like #1, a most rewarding and enjoyable work to perform...great bassoon part!!

There are many good recordings, but overall, my top choice is probably Monteux/LSO...superbly paced, with terrific finale...
other top choices are 
Stokowski/NBC from 1954...
Bernstein/NYPO
Barbirolli/RoyPO,
and for historical interest - Toscanini/NBC from 1940 - quite well-recorded

I've performed this work many times - one esp memorable one - the conductor apparently decided that the bassoons should be highlighted throughout- everything louder!! nothing less than forte/fortissimo...that's what he wanted...I, of course, used a nice solo reed for the lovely bassoon soli-duet in mvt II, but aside from that I used this incredibly loud "buzz-bomb" of a reed, that I thought stuck out way too much....not for this clown on the podium, he still wanted more...he got it!! the tape of the performance is something else - I played all the notes - they are all right there...tho I can't say I'm too pleased with it...:lol:


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## Judith (Nov 11, 2015)

Have Barbirolli and Rattle cycles but recently bought Neeme Jarvi set which I really like


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## Enthusiast (Mar 5, 2016)

Yes, the Barbirolli RPO is an exceptional recording as is Beecham's live recording (BBC Legends). Karajan's is also very good. But there are quite a few others that I like a lot. I'll explore my collection a little and come back if I find any that I just have to tell you about.


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## mbhaub (Dec 2, 2016)

Ditto the Chesky CD of Barbirolli/RPO. We're very luck to have it; it was made for the old Reader's Digest record division in a large set "Music of the World's Great Composers" and could have disappeared. Charles Gerhardt was the producer and boy did he make some great choices in putting those records together. That was my introduction to the 2nd, to Barbirolli. Virtually no recording since has matched it's incredible power. The way he increased tempo and volume in the first movement at the climaxes is utterly electrifying. The pace of the finale is exactly right. Philoctetes mentioned the winds falling apart at the beginning - it can happen. I've seen more than one conductor screw it up in rehearsal - the strings enter after the 2nd beat, not the 1st which is what the ear hears. And if any wants to see genius at work, study the symphony; it's a marvel of symphonic thinking. The whole thing derives from those first few notes.


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## Merl (Jul 28, 2016)

Agreed about Karajan. He was the first to really help me 'understand' this symphony. Before that I had Rattle's set and in his hands found the work dull and listless.


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## Becca (Feb 5, 2015)

Here is an interesting live performance ... Barbirolli and the Boston Symphony from October 1964. It is a bit faster and seems a bit more low key than the Royal Philharmonic studio but the latter may be a function of the broadcast audio.

There is an interesting comment below the video... "_This was a very happy occasion for the BSO players, mired as they were in the midst of the Leinsdorf years. They and Sir John gave the Sibelius a wonderful reading, but what I most remember of the occasion was how demonstrative the musicians were during the applause. It was quite ostentatious as these occasions go, but for them it was a temporary "free at last, free at last" moment and they were not going to let it go."_


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## Brahmsianhorn (Feb 17, 2017)

I like the ‘62 Barbirolli on Chesky/Testament, and also the old Kajanus recording, but no recording had ever bowled me over like the live ‘54 Beecham.


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## Triplets (Sep 4, 2014)

Becca said:


> Continuing through the Sibelius symphonies...
> 
> The 2nd is probably the most well known and popular of the 7. It is one in which Sibelius really started to find his 'voice' - _"My second symphony is a confession of the soul."_
> 
> ...


I haven't heard that Barbirolli but my favorite has long been His recording with the Halle. Ormandy and Karajan are might fine. Lately for me it's been Bergland/Bournemouth


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## wkasimer (Jun 5, 2017)

Here's a podcast on the subject:

https://stickynotespodcast.libsyn.com/-sibelius-symphony-no-2-a-confession-of-the-soul


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## DeepR (Apr 13, 2012)

Vanska/Lahti is the only one I really like so far.
Sampled a whole bunch of them, but everytime I can't stand the finale, either how it's performed or how it sounds.


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## Brahmsian Colors (Sep 16, 2016)

My favorite interpretations of the Second are Kamu/Berlin Philharmonic and the late '50s Ormandy/Philadelphia Orchestra. That said, I've long preferred the composer's Fourth, Fifth and Sixth Symphonies.


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## perdido34 (Mar 11, 2015)

Szell/Cleveland played Sibelius 2 in Japan just before Szell's death. It is a phenomenal performance.


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## Heck148 (Oct 27, 2016)

perdido34 said:


> Szell/Cleveland played Sibelius 2 in Japan just before Szell's death. It is a phenomenal performance.


the Szell/CO Tokyo performance is good, but the recording quality not so hot - lacking in bass - the trombones, tuba, lower strings, bassoons do not have enough presence. they sound too recessed.


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## GrosseFugue (Nov 30, 2011)

Brahmsianhorn said:


> I like the '62 Barbirolli on Chesky/Testament, and also the old Kajanus recording, but no recording had ever bowled me over like the live '54 Beecham.


Between the Chesky & Testament versions which one sounds better?
Also, they are both the same performances but just mastered differently?

I got the Testament one recently and it was incredible.
The Fifth it's coupled with wasn't on the same level, sadly.


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## Merl (Jul 28, 2016)

For a couple of underrated 2nds the Kamu/BPO and Mackerras/RPO are really good. That Mackerras recording has been knocking around on the budget labels for years, and can be bought for pennies, but it's a really nice account.


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## Eclectic Al (Apr 23, 2020)

Merl said:


> For a couple of underrated 2nds the Kamu/BPO and Mackerras/RPO are really good. That Mackerras recording has been knocking around on the budget labels for years, and can be bought for pennies, but it's a really nice account.


That's the thing about Mackerras isn't it: cheap labels and underrated, really good performances. That about sums it up.


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## Enthusiast (Mar 5, 2016)

Two years ago in this thread I agreed that the Barbirolli RPO and the Karajan recordings were excellent and further recommended the astonishing magmatic Beecham. I also promised to come back with any further recommendations if any came to me. Well, here I am to recommend the Monteux LSO and I'm also very fond of nearly all of the Rozhdestvensky set.


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## Bkeske (Feb 27, 2019)

Szell also released a #2 with the Concertgebouw. It's still my favorite, and wonderfully recorded.

View attachment 156771


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## Allegro Con Brio (Jan 3, 2020)

Yes, the Barbirolli/RPO is special, and despite my general indifference toward his work I find that Szell's classical style fits this symphony like a glove (why didn't he record more Sibelius?) In a similar mode, I have a soft spot for Davis/Boston who give it a nice lightness and precision (Davis is especially good at communicating Sibelius's unique rhythmic contours). But I discovered this one thanks to Enthusiast, and it's hard to beat for sheer raw passion IMO:


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## Animal the Drummer (Nov 14, 2015)

Strongly agree about the Davis version with the Boston Symphony. He isn't consistently a favourite of mine, but when he gets it right (Beethoven 7 with the Royal Philharmonic is another example) he gets it very right.


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## Heck148 (Oct 27, 2016)

A new discovery for me is Blomstedt/SFSO....wonderfully played, great sound...some great solo work - bassoon, oboe....tremendous power in the final brass chorale!! Didn't know SFSO had that kind of heavy artillery.....perhaps the tempo lags a bit in the grand buildup to the finale, but thats nit-picky....terrific performance in great sound.

Monteux/LSO remains overall favorite, but Blomstedt, Toscanini, Stokowski rate very highly....Barbirolli is good, but the final chorale sounds underpowered - same with Karajan/BPO...sounds underplayed next to LSO, SFSO, NBC, NYPO....these guys are blowing the bells off the horn!!


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## superhorn (Mar 23, 2010)

The Rattle/Berlin Sibelius cycle is actually the second of his versions , and is with the City of Birmingham symphony , which was his orchestra at the time and which he built ointo a world class orchestra . I haven't heard the Berlin recordings but have a lot of admiration for the Birmingham/EMI cyle .


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## vincula (Jun 23, 2020)

I do enjoy many of the above-mentioned renditions. However what Koussevitzky was able to achieve with the BSO cannot be stressed enough and deserves some praise. Despite the allowances one must be make to the SQ of these old recordings, it's easy to understand what it's all about. I'm really enjoying this less polished and poetic, more in-ya-face approach to the Fiery Finnish. Deep, dark and gutsy performances that's shatter you to the core. His use of silence deserves special attention.









Regards,

Vincula


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## joen_cph (Jan 17, 2010)

The Barbirolli New York 1940 is feverish and quite original in the phrasing; at 39:30, it is 4-5 minutes quicker than the Barbirollis mentioned, and one of the fastest on record.

Dorati's more polished Stockholm recording is very fine too, but I'm not sure it has even made it to CD.

There are many fine recordings of this work, of course.


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## Coach G (Apr 22, 2020)

Sibelius: _Symphony #2_:

The American composer/music critic, Virgil Thomson said it was "vulgar, self-indulgent, and provincial beyond all description."

Another music critic, Michael Walsh, wrote in his book, Whose Afraid of Classical Music that Sibelius's _Symphony #2_ "is a shaggy dog; a big, noisy, shaggy dog."

And who am I to argue with those sentiments? Even so, conductors and audiences must love it because almost every great conductor including Kousevitzky, Toscanini, Szell, Ormandy, Bernstein, Karajan, and Rozhdestvensky and others recorded it, sometimes more than once.

In my case, Sibelius' _Symphony #2_ was an early favorite and my first recording was from a cassette tape I found in the early 1980s in the bargain bin at a used book store by Gennady Rozhdestvensky and the Moscow Radio and Television Symphony Orchestra, an old Melodya release from when the Soviet Union was trying to break into the classical music market. Since then I've obtained many recordings of all the Sibelius symphonies and the _Symphony #2_ by the likes of Toscanini, Karajan, Ormandy, Bernstein, Berglund, Ashkananzy, and many others.

I think the most interesting and intense rendition is from Leonard Bernstein's incomplete Sibelius cycle he made in the 1980s with the Vienna Philharmonic for DG records. Perhaps taking a page from Wilhelm Furtwangler or Sergiu Celibidace, Bernstein's is a live recording that really slows it down, seems to savor every morsel of musical goodness, and really highlights the percussion. It may not be for everyone, but there's no other rendition of the Sibelius _Symphony #2_ quite like it.


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## joen_cph (Jan 17, 2010)

Agree about the love for the Rozhdestvensky set. Personally I find the LP sound better than the CDs I've heard, more spacious, but this may apply to just the one transfer. 
And yes, the Bernstein DG is very good too.


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## Enthusiast (Mar 5, 2016)

Coach G said:


> Sibelius: _Symphony #2_:
> I think the most interesting and intense rendition is from Leonard Bernstein's incomplete Sibelius cycle he made in the 1980s with the Vienna Philharmonic for DG records. Perhaps taking a page from Wilhelm Furtwangler or Sergiu Celibidace, Bernstein's is a live recording that really slows it down, seems to savor every morsel of musical goodness, and really highlights the percussion. It may not be for everyone, but there's no other rendition of the Sibelius _Symphony #2_ quite like it.
> 
> View attachment 156836


I agree wholeheartedly. Bernstein's later (DG) recordings are different and do - for me - work well. I quite liked his earlier (NYPO) set as well.


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