SIBELIUS: Symphonies Nos. 1 & 4 – London Symphony Orchestra/ Sir Colin Davis – LSO Live multichannel SACD LSOO601, 78:19 ***** [Distr. by Harmonia mundi]:
These are exceptionally powerful performances of two of the Finnish master’s great symphonies – the First recorded live in London back in 2006 and the Fourth just this year. I’m literally snowed in as I write this, and the moods of both symphonies seem to fit the general mood perfectly. Icy Northern sounds abound in both works; there is little of the heroic, more optimistic mood of the composer’s Second Symphony.
While in the First Symphony the Tchaikovsky influence was strong, Sibelius already has his distinctive style in evidence, that was to make him the great symphonist of the North. Another composer’s style – Bruckner – is also heard in the brass writing of the First’s initial movement and during the scherzo, not to mention some extended passages of repetitions. The work’s last movement is subtitled “Almost Like a Fantasy,” giving the composer more freedom than conventional forms Its opening theme on strings is a rescoring of the clarinet theme presented in the first movement of the symphony.
The Fourth Symphony is darker and sadder in mood. It was composed after Sibelius had a serious operation for throat cancer and is infused with concerns over his own mortality – similar to those of Mahler in several of his symphonies. The pervading sound is Nordic grey, with one of the themes suddenly cut off by sharp tympani whacks not unlike Mahler’s “hammer blows.” The work also ends pessimistically and abruptly.
– John Sunier
