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BARBIROLLI conducts SIBELIUS' ORCHESTRAL MUSIC
JEAN SIBELIUS
(1865-1957)
Hallé Orchestra
The HMV mono and Pye Stereo recordings
CD1 71.17
Symphony No. 2 (1902) [41:23] {45.57}
Swan of Tuonela (1893-7) [8.33] {7.51}
Symphony No. 7 (1924) [21.16] {21.54}
CD2 74.22
Symphony No. 1 (1898-9) [40.44] {41.50}
Symphony No. 5 (1914-19) [33:34] {33.15}
CD1 All recorded in mono by EMI 1949-55
CD2 All recorded in stereo by Pye 1957
ADD
DUTTON LABORATORIES The Barbirolli Society CDSJB 1018


Crotchet  

HMV's 5CD stereo collection of the complete Barbirolli Sibelius symphonies made a splash earlier this year. It is phenomenally well transferred with sound of a rich ferocity. The downside was that they caught Barbirolli in old age and illness. Some interpretations have that tawny fire, notably Symphony No. 1. However a certain 'accidie' invades symphonies 2, 3, 5 and 7. The HMV set was Barbirolli's only complete cycle but in the 1950s he recorded a number of single symphonies which are most valuably collected here. I have reproduced the timings of the EMI 1960s comparators in curled brackets and the Dutton set in squared brackets.

The Dutton Second Symphony has nothing of Oblomov about it. It is flammably impetuous though still not the equal of the overwhelming and stunningly recorded Chesky RPO version from 1962. The impetuosity can be heard in the string surges at 1.48 in the first movement and the rush at 6.59 in the third movement. The mono sound tends to 'clog' marginally at volume but the excitement and vigour is patent and smartly catches you up in the drama no matter how well you may know the music. The Second Symphony, mono and all, is a welcome antidote to the torpor of the HMV 1960s stereo version.

Defying generalisation The Swan of Tuonela is slower in the Dutton version than the 1960s HMV the richness of which makes the HMV set preferable in this respect. Despite Roger Winfield's cor anglais neither version matches the tension and slow concentration of magic in the 1960s Mravinsky on BMG-Melodiya. Speaking of Mravinsky we come to the Seventh Symphony which, in Barbirolli's hands, tends towards a steadier somnolent pace and an unwavering inward quality. Nothing is rapped out. Contours are evened and smoothed. The recording conspires in the same calming direction with the interpretation becoming more incisive from 10.00 onwards. The voltage setting remains lower but is preferable to the somnifacient HMV 1960s version. The Seventh is the only work here to have been recorded at Abbey Road. The rest are taken from the Hallé's own stamping ground, the Free Trade Hall, Manchester. The set reproduces the original LP cover for the Seventh which intriguingly was coupled with Rubbra 5.

My memories of the Pye two-channel recordings are based on the Golden Guinea bargain reissue LPs of the 1960s and early 1970s. Accordingly I was astonished by the clarity and attack evident in the second Dutton disc. The Golden Guinea LPs sounded truly sub fusc; not so now. Cliff edge drama (listen to the gruff and barbed brass at 11.01 in the first movement) and a rock-steady control are notable in Dutton's mastering. Among all the flowing fire Barbirolli is alive to the snow-fields' pastoral limpidity. The First must have been a special favourite of Barbirolli's. It is also the most successful of the symphonies in the HMV box. At 7.40 in the andante I have never heard the fast rising and falling string waves given such exciting prominence. This is a very special heart-racing performance in plangent 1957 sound (Ah those quasi-Mahlerian strings at 9:40!) - a tribute to engineer Bob Auger as is the Fifth Symphony.

The Fifth is also a Pye recording. The sound is prone to a subtle level of 'shatter' at high volume and impact. This is noticeable in the offbeat hammer-blows that close the symphony. This is a very fine performance in which everyone is on their toes not least in the ppp shadow world of the skittering finale at 4.32 where the 1957 sound quality is stunning. The chivalric writing emphasises for me the connection backwards to the Lemminkainen Legends especially the Saari Adventures and the Return. Would that Barbirolli had recorded the complete Legends.

Michael Kennedy's notes are always worth reading showing care to match the text to the discs and particular performances. One correction: Barbirolli did record the Sibelius Violin Concerto with Heifetz. The two discs are neatly packaged in a single width case.

Reviewer

Rob Barnett

and Gerald Fenech adds:

This interesting package (like the Elgar before it) brings together Glorious John's earlier and thus rather rare recordings of the Sibelius symphonies closer to his heart. I always had some qualms and trepidations about his later Sixties Halle' recordings, fine as these are, one cannot fail to notice some excessive mannerisms here and there that detract from such superbly structured pieces as the Fifth and Seventh. On the contrary these magnificently refurbished Pye recordings demonstrate a grand sweep and manner that was characteristic of Sir John's live performances so often talked about in Manchester of the fifties. I was particularly taken by the emotional undercurrent that runs through the Finale of the Fift, here barbirolli rivals the best for grandeur and nobility. He is also cogently articulated in the Seventh which reminded me of Beecham's classic 1940 NYPO reading and a subsequent excellent version by Lorin Maazel on Decca (1967/VPO). The first two symphonies were recorded almost five years apart but the Second is a very fine recording indeed, quite matching his earlier NYPO version (also available on Dutton) which realy has 'white heat' written all over it. In any case this 1952 Abbey Road version is quite preferable to the last recording which has some squeaky gesticulations and alterations in the Finale, which are not to my taste. The same could go for this slickly played version of the First which has a deep sense of hidden power that also places it amongst the best First's that I have ever heard. Altogether, and with a haunting 'swan' as a bonus, this release should now serve to be the 'Barbirolli Sibelius Album' complementing the more famous (but not necessarily better) EMI set perfectly.

Gerald Fenech

Performance:

Sound:
***/****


Reviewer

Rob Barnett

Gerald Fenech

Performance:

Sound:
***/****


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