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In the Sibelius No. 1 Bernstein paints a large canvas with a swirl of emotions and passion even despite slightly slower than normal tempos. The conductor shows an elemental feel for and grasp of the alternating forces of stormy passion, power, melancholy, wistfulness and lyricism in the music. This is an electrifying performance in which the listener is swept along even if the tempos are a bit broader than the norm. Bernstein is masterly at managing the buildup of tension and subsequent release throughout the symphony. In the second movement there is a combination of lyricism and playfulness mixed with surging, swirling passion. The Scherzo is now jaunty, now throbbing, brimming with energy. In the finale, especially, one notes the haunting woodwinds and senses the electrifying, visceral drama. The noble theme in the brass emerges hauntingly and magically from out of a cauldron of white-hot emotion. In the Elgar (pace James Hepokoski, the writer of the liner notes), I think, anyway, what Bernstein is doing with the exceptionally slow tempo for the initial statement of the theme of the Variations is to distend the theme so that we are not so much presented with it, but left searching for it in fragments, as indeed we are as we proceed through the variations. We hear snatches of things as if vaguely remembered. The conductor doesn’t make it easy for us; he makes us work. All the nuances of the variations themselves are quite effectively rendered. His very slow tempo in the noble Nimrod variation, No. 9, makes it very much the center of the piece. This is Bernstein, the thinker, the tinkerer, philosopher-king, probing musical mind and re-creator. Different, but definitely interesting. What to say about the super-slow and severely distended Sibelius No. 2? It is glacial. It moves with the speed of a detached Arctic ice sheet slowly melting as it drifts along. When you distend every theme, shining a light on every element of it as it builds up in order to emphasize all the bits and pieces, you paradoxically achieve exactly the opposite: nothing at all is emphasized, and Sibelius’ first two symphonies are still in the traditional classical mold: emphasis of contrasting themes within movements. So, this is a major disappointment. THE absolute best realization of the Sibelius 2 is George Szell’s rendition on the Philips label conducting the Concertgebouw Orchestra, available in the Philips “50 Great Recordings” series, and great it is indeed. I lack any ability to comment at all on Britten’s 4 Sea Interludes since I am completely unfamiliar with them. The only pieces by Britten I am familiar with are the Variations on a Theme of Frank Bridge and the Simple Symphony. Bernstein’s very slow approach is better suited to the later symphonies of Sibelius (here 5 and 7) which no longer so easily fit the classical mold of symphonic development, but instead rely on the slow crystallization of themes from out of isolated motivic germs. But even better, and more mainstream, are the versions by Karajan and the Berlin Philharmonic on a 2-disc DG set (Symphonies 4-7, The Swan of Tuonela and Tapiola). But, that said, Bernstein’s performances here are interesting and rewarding.Read full review
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