Vaughan Williams said he lacked the courage to play this symphony as slowly as he wanted. A symphony with three slow movements out of four is a tough sell for audiences and almost any conductor will speed up out of insecurity.
The only recording to really pull off slow tempi without falling to bits ... more
I'd just like to add that the Sibelius concerto just lay there for thirty years after composition until Heifetz took it up and put it on the map. It's possible that the slow movement in this recording goes by quickly because recording tempi are usually faster than live performance, or maybe he's ... more