Thread: Sibelius - Best Version

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Post by tream February 23, 2012 (11 of 77)
I have not made up my mind yet about Vanska's 2nd....I am a big fan of this conductor, both in recordings and live (have seen him lead the SFS twice- wonderful concerts) - yet, I am finding it his 2nd to be deliberate, sculpted and highly personal, quite a difference from the more galvanic Colin Davis and George Szell readings of which I am quite fond. First impresson of the 5th is that it is more mainstream and quite impressive.

Post by nucaleena February 24, 2012 (12 of 77)
current93 said:

Three other titles in this survey sound fine for me, in any case much better than the crucially low-rez Jarvi DGG set.

Maybe, but this thread is about the best version (as per original question) rather than resolution.

Post by Gigi February 24, 2012 (13 of 77)
In my opinion the most beautiful edition of the Second Symphony of Sibelius is: Sir John Barbirolli with the royal philharmonic orchestra, only RBCD :-(
I have not actually bought the last BIS recordings but sonically reference is Jarvi/Cincinnati Bishop/Telarc: fantastic

Post by current93 February 24, 2012 (14 of 77)
nucaleena said:

Maybe, but this thread is about the best version (as per original question) rather than resolution.

Fugue asked:

Really? I have the 6th & 7th--both sound fine to me. Does his cycle have variable sound?

I simply replied.

Because of low resolution level recordings of mr. Jarvi renditions it's not possible fully appreciate his artistic merits.

Post by Vaan February 24, 2012 (15 of 77)
Rubbish.

Post by hiredfox February 24, 2012 (16 of 77)
These are only personal preferences after all so FWIW from my collection of almost 30 sets of the symphonies* and ignoring the SACD tag as any measure of the overall artistic or interpretative merit of these works, I'll stick with..

No 2 LSO / Davies (1996 Red Seal)
No 4 BPO / von Karajan
No 5 Lahti SO / Vanska

* rather fond of them as you can tell

Of the new recordings of 2 & 5 by Vanska, there isn't much in them that's new to enthuse about - competent performances at best perhaps of which (2) is rather limited by erratic pacing and (5) having a certain frisson from better timing and cohesion which is appealing but clearly Vanska has done better.

Of the dark horses, Berglund is always the most authoritative but inconsistent and sometimes shoddy playing by the BSO and HPO spoil any claim to supremacy from either of his early sets.

Post by LivyII February 24, 2012 (17 of 77)
current93 said:

Because of low resolution level recordings of mr. Jarvi renditions it's not possible fully appreciate his artistic merits.

So 48 khz is "low" resolution? How many humans are actually hearing sound pitched above 24 khz? And the idea that this is so low as to render us unable to enjoy them is dumfounding.

Saraste's 5th on the LPO label, a new RBCD recording, is really starting to grow on me...

Post by current93 February 24, 2012 (18 of 77)
LivyII said:

So 48 khz is "low" resolution? How many humans are actually hearing sound pitched above 24 khz? And the idea that this is so low as to render us unable to enjoy them is dumfounding.

Saraste's 5th on the LPO label, a new RBCD recording, is really starting to grow on me...

Nonsense. By modern standards, hi-rez is considered to be .88khz, .96khz, DSD and DXD. And "...a new RBCD recordings" looks grossly and irritating at this site.

Post by Fitzcaraldo215 February 24, 2012 (19 of 77)
tream said:

I have not made up my mind yet about Vanska's 2nd....I am a big fan of this conductor, both in recordings and live (have seen him lead the SFS twice- wonderful concerts) - yet, I am finding it his 2nd to be deliberate, sculpted and highly personal, quite a difference from the more galvanic Colin Davis and George Szell readings of which I am quite fond. First impresson of the 5th is that it is more mainstream and quite impressive.

I agree that Vanska's performance of the Second is highly personal, especially as to tempo and how he modulates and controls it. But, he seems to know exactly where he is going with it. It is a very distinctive performance that sounds like no other. It is a different and fresh perspective on this warhorse I have heard a million times, and that is why I like it so much.

Agreed, the Fifth is closer to the main stream.

Post by LivyII February 24, 2012 (20 of 77)
current93 said:

Nonsense. By modern standards, hi-rez is considered to be .88khz, .96khz, DSD and DXD. And "...a new RBCD recordings" looks grossly and irritating at this site.

.88 and .96 khz?

I'll take RBCD over them every time. And you never answered my question about human hearing, so I guess you don't understand the relationship between sampling frequency, frequency range, and human hearing.

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