Featured Musician: A Maazel Celebration

The discs under consideration here.

Jeremy Lee writes

Rosbaud/Berlin’s Fantastic Non-Symphonic Sibelius

Jeremy Lee writes

If you are a newcomer to Sibelius’ music beyond his seven symphonies, look no further than this disc, without doubt the most exciting, direct and idiomatic non-symphonic Sibelius ever recorded.  Hans Rosbaud, along with Herr von Karajan, was one of the greatest German exponents of Sibelius’ music in the post-war years, and

Colin Davis’ Boston Sibelius

     

Jeremy Lee writes

Colin Davis’ Boston Sibelius, recorded in the mid-1970s, has been extremely well received critically, though from the surface of things it’s hard to see why.  It’s certainly not the best played of Sibelius cycles–the Boston sound is never as refined as what Seiji Ozawa would extract a few years later with his Mahler recordings, and 

Karajan’s Last Sibelius for EMI, Now on Warner

Jeremy Lee writes

The recordings featured here are Karajan’s last Sibelius recordings, recorded from 1976 to 1981.  Compared to his earlier recordings, be it with the Philharmonia for EMI in the 1950s, or the late 1960s/early 1970s for DG, this set arguably represents Karajan’s Sibelius interpretation at its tried-and-true best.

Soft and Bloated: Segerstam’s First Sibelius Cycle

Jeremy Lee writes

If you think Maazel’s Vienna Sibelius cycle, reviewed last week, is too driving and hard-edged for your taste, consider this set which is at the exact opposite of the spectrum.  Segerstam opts for a rich, rounded sonority, almost completely without edges or crudeness, and he draws an

Maazel’s Raw, Vital Vienna Sibelius

Jeremy Lee writes

Maazel recorded many works with the Vienna Philharmonic, including symphony cycles of Mahler and Tchaikovsky, but one of the best recordings that came out of that partnership was this, a Sibelius cycle dating from the 1960s, both Maazel and the Vienna Philharmonic’s first