I’ve listened to many recordings of the Fifth Symphony (though
nowhere near the some 100 that are currently available) and attended
a number of live performances. I still hold to the view that the 1961
Bernstein recording is the greatest. (Oddly enough, it is only available
singly with Eugene Ormandy’s Sibelius First Symphony on Sony or,
alternatively, in one of two Sony boxes—one with 60 CDs; the other
with 10—of Bernstein’s performances with the New York Philhar-
monic. Both boxes are huge bargains.) Bernstein never did anything
finer than this. He really did not have to, but he tried—in a remake of
the Fifth with the Vienna Philharmonic in 1987, which is also not to
be missed. This is a slower interpretation, but one that never loses in-
ner tension and that delivers the climaxes gloriously. There is only the
slightest hint of the self-indulgence that was to mar Bernstein’s work in
his sunset years when he became too emotionally self-indulgent. The
Vienna Philharmonic gives its all, and the recorded sound is amazingly
1615 alive.
From PentaTone Classics, there is a superb reissue of Colin Davis’
great performance of the Sibelius Fifth Symphony, with the Boston
Symphony Orchestra. This has been near the top of the list of finest
Fifths since it was recorded in 1975, and it still belongs there—right
next to Bernstein’s Fifth. This Super Audio CD reveals the original
four-channel sound in which the symphony was recorded by Philips. It
comes with a very fine Seventh Symphony and the symphonic poem,
1616 En Saga.
Now there is another competitor. Paavo Berglund, who died in 2012,
knew Sibelius personally, and conducted cycles of his symphonies sev-
eral times. They were respectable efforts, but the ones I heard did not
rise to the top. However, Berglund had a reputation as a better con-
ductor in live concerts than he was in the recording studio. A release
from the London Philharmonic Orchestra label confirms this reputa-
tion in the recordings of live performances of the Sibelius Fifth and
Sixth symphonies from 2003 and 2006 respectively. Berglund captures
Jean Sibelius: Finnish Majesty 369
the excitement and majesty of the Fifth with tempi that are similar to
Bernstein’s, even a mite tighter. Nothing sounds rushed, however; it
is a magnificent unfolding. By all means, get the Bernstein, but this is
1617 a worthy successor.
Sibelius: Symphonies nos. 1 & 5 / Romance for Strings (Ormandy and
1618 Bernstein), Sony Essential Classics (available from Arkiv.com)
Symphonies nos. 5 & 7 (Bernstein), Deutsche Gramophone (oop, avail-
1619 able on DG 477 9785 and 474 9362)
1620 Symphonies nos. 5 & 7; En Saga (Davis), PentaTone 5186 177
1621 Symphonies nos. 5 & 6; The Swan of Tuonela (Berglund), LPO 0065
Surprised by Beauty 