Album of the Evening

[dericchan1]

Muni Long - public displays of affection - amazon HD through wiim pro

 

[AnotherSpin]

2nd Symphony from Rattle/Berliner Philharmoniker Sibelius set. Comfortably numb.

 

 

 

[ripples]

 

 

 

 

[The Computer Audiophile]

[WAM]

Could not resist this bargain on Qobuz:

 

[WAM]

BandCamp Friday... just had to buy more music...

 

[jiminlogansquare]

[AnotherSpin]

Fast and furious. It could not have been otherwise, Herbert von Karajan in the years of ascending to the top of his prime. Sibelius' 2nd Symphony with Philharmonia.

 

[AnotherSpin]

Next performance of Sibelius' 2nd Symphony, by Leif Segerstam and the Helsinki Philharmonic. Ideally balanced perfection. Perhaps only during the climactic transition from part 3 to part 4 did Segerstam let his emotions overwhelm and disrupt the steady flow slightly.

 

By the way, Leif Segerstam is not only a conductor, but a composer, and unique one. He wrote more than 300 Symphonies. Okay, his Symphonies are not so lengthy, about 20 minutes each. Segerstam's symphonies are performed without a conductor.

 

 

 

[jiminlogansquare]

[dericchan1]

Revisited this through amazon hd streaming 

[jiminlogansquare]

[AnotherSpin]

Trumpeter Wadada Leo Smith, now 81, has turned to the legacy of Miles Davis more than once. This time it's heavy fusion with electric guitars, etc., a sort of instant reference to Tutu, or even Bitches Brew. Not bad, but didn't we hear it all in the original form  when these ideas were still fresh? 

 

[AnotherSpin]

Listened twice in a row. The second time a little bit louder. 

 

[AnotherSpin]

Back to Sibelius 2nd Symphony. Gustavo Dudamel with Gothenburg Symphony. 

 

Well.. I don't want to say anything bad, but nothing good comes to mind. Sorry, Dude.

 

[dericchan1]

Streaming from amazon hd

[AnotherSpin]

The next version of the 2nd Symphony by Jean Sibelius, now from Herbert Blomstedt with the San Francisco Symphony. Brilliant! Clean and transparent. Blomstedt knows exactly what he is doing in the second part, what is not the case with some other conductors. Extremely convincing throughout.

 

[The Computer Audiophile]

[The Computer Audiophile]

Switching it up to this one. Starting to really like it. 

 

[kelvinwsy]

46 minutes ago, The Computer Audiophile said:

Switching it up to this one. Starting to really like it. 

 

Thx for the recommendation😍 This album is ethereal and other worldly

[The Computer Audiophile]

[AnotherSpin]

Leonard Bernstein’s 60s recording of Sibelius’ Second with New York Philharmonic. Weird stuff. The conductor does not seem to care at all about understanding and conveying the composer's intent; instead, the symphonic text is used merely as a starting point for exercises in various frivolities and quirks. The coherent narrative is presented as a haphazard set of disparate fragments, and any sense of continuity and logic is lost. Perhaps Bernstein simply mistook Sibelius for Mahler, or tried to perform the former as the latter. It didn't work. A clear miss.

 

 

[AnotherSpin]

Wonderfully musical performance with a lovely Supraphon sound.

 

[The Computer Audiophile]

[austinpop]

On 4/10/2023 at 9:37 AM, AnotherSpin said:

The next version of the 2nd Symphony by Jean Sibelius, now from Herbert Blomstedt with the San Francisco Symphony. Brilliant! Clean and transparent. Blomstedt knows exactly what he is doing in the second part, what is not the case with some other conductors. Extremely convincing throughout.

 

 

Thanks for these recommendations, Sergii! It inspired me to do a quick sweep of Sibelius 2 recordings of my own. I really like the Blomstedt/SFS, Salonen/LA, and the older Vänskä/Lahti you recommended, none of which I had heard before. Additionally, this Paavo Järvi/Cincinnati has been one of my favorites for quite some time.

 

 

And finally there is the new kid on the block, Santtu-Matias Rouvali/Gothenburg. While I wasn't blown away, it's a decent performance.