This disc announces a brand-new Sibelius symphony cycle from
Naxos under the baton of conductor Pietari Inkinen. At first
I didn’t believe it: Naxos already has two cycles, and the number
of core-repertoire works it has recorded three times is minuscule.
Then I put the CD in the player and was in disbelief again:
these symphonies are really conducted by the same person? The
Third Symphony is excellent, finely detailed and driven forward
with great rhythmic snap, while the First Symphony floats along
in a solemn, murky haze.
Things get off to an ominous start with the First Symphony’s
clarinet solo: played very well, but recorded too brightly,
giving a smiling edge to a solo which ought to sound as if it
is rising up from the depths. The main allegro takes off with
insufficient forward momentum, as if the whole thing is being
caught in ever-so-slight slow motion. This really begins to
tell at 2:07, when the horns and timpani are curiously timid,
and in the big Tchaikovskian moments in the strings afterwards,
lacking in energy - especially uninspiring is the recap of this
moment at 8:00. The same lazy tempi afflict the usually very
violent outburst in the slow movement, the entire scherzo (here
sleepy), and the oddly disjointed cataclysms of the finale.
Indeed, the finale seems to get slower and heavier as it moves
along, rather the way many conductors these days conduct Shostakovich’s
Fifth, except that Sibelius is not Shostakovich, and the result
is that the movement (Allegro molto!) becomes just tiresome.
Part of the problem, no doubt, is that Leif Segerstam and the
Helsinki Philharmonic recorded this symphony only a few years
ago and set a new benchmark for thrills, passion, and sheer
excitement, with a finale that always seems at danger of running
off the rails - and then, of course, it does, just as Sibelius
wished - and imposing brass and timpani all around. Listen to
the two back-to-back and Inkinen’s performance sounds a bit
like a rehearsal to make sure everyone can play the notes.
There are good moments in this Inkinen First, and one great
one: the second subject of the first movement is delivered with
extraordinary intimacy and, when it is entrusted to the clarinet,
there is a moment of actual magic (9:52-11:00). The clarinet,
the harp, the trumpet, the horns sneaking in: all perfect. The
New Zealand first trumpet and flute deliver especially haunting
solos. But the intimacy and intensity of this moment would have
been even better had they contrasted with a really tempestuous
climate – the calm between storms. Unfortunately, this performance
is all calm and no storms.
I started to listen to the Third with trepidation – so imagine
my surprise when it turned out to be excellent! This performance
actually has the necessary pacing to make the symphony work,
and work wonderfully: the first movement opens up like a sunrise
and is positively radiant throughout, and the finale bubbles
up naturally from its humble beginnings. The “big tune” is indulged
just a little bit before the symphony builds to a thoroughly
impressive climax. Best of all, though, is Inkinen’s slow movement,
maybe my favorite reading of this movement: time seems not to
exist here, because even though the computer tells me this is
a slow reading, it whisks me through a world of fantasy. There
is a ghostly procession of some kind (2:10 on, aided by the
lovely muted strings), and later on the flute, clarinet, and
oboe contribute outstanding solos. It doesn’t get any better
than this.
The most frustrating things to review are not the outright bad
things but those which could have been great had just one or
two elements been different. This is a hugely frustrating CD,
because Pietari Inkinen’s Third Symphony is the equal of any
currently available - my other favorites are Segerstam in Helsinki,
Davis on LSO Live, and Olli Mustonen’s very different view on
Ondine - but his First simply lacks the necessary energy. Instead,
try Mark Elder’s excellent Hallé album, Davis in Boston, or,
best of all, Berglund or Segerstam in Helsinki. The New Zealand
Symphony Orchestra plays with consistent excellence and the
engineers do a good job, excepting that over-bright clarinet
solo, which makes this review even more frustrating. Can I recommend
this CD? I do not think so. If you can find an mp3 download
site, like ClassicsOnline or Passionato, which allows you to
download the Third Symphony only, that is your best option.
The mp3 option is particularly attractive because the presentation
of this disc is not inspiring. Keith Anderson has written exactly
the same liner-note he wrote for the Petri Sakari Sibelius disc,
with two sentences of new material but with an old grammar mistake
uncorrected. There is another advantage to not buying a physical
CD: if you spend too much time reading the back of the case,
you will notice that the cover photo of the Northern Lights
was snapped not in Sibelius’ native Finland but in Canada. Now
why did they do that?
Brian Reinhart
New Zealand Symphony Orchestra/Pietari Inkinen 
