Search - Jean Sibelius, Mariss Jansons, Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra :: Sibelius: Symphony No. 2

Lovely playing, but the performance is soporific (and the ti

Santa Fe Listener | Santa Fe, NM USA | 08/23/2007

(3 out of 5 stars)

"You'd have to be a maniac for the Sibelius Second or for the Royal Concertgebouw to settle for a 44 min. CD, even if it does come in excellent SACD sound (which I listened to in regular two-channel stereo). Early in his career, when he put the Oslo Phil. on the musical map, Mariss Jansons scored a success with a vital, fresh account of this symphony. The new one is only a couple of minutes slower, but where's the life gone? Caution and elegance of expression, the hallmarks of this performance, are the last things Sibelius needs. He asks for epic sweep, a mystical conneciton with nature, and primordial strength. If Jansons has an inkling of this, he doesn't display it here. Given the number of cautious CDs Jansons has released so far on the RCO Live label, I wonder if the good people of Amsterdam aren't having second thoughts about his appointment."

The Full Concert Experience

Roger Oakley | Melbourne, Australia | 04/09/2009

(5 out of 5 stars)

"Listening to this disc in SACD format via high-end sound equipment

was a remarkable experience. I felt I was in the Concertgebouw.

I have a few small reservations about Jansons' performance but the overall effect was so immediate and powerful that they literally ceased to matter. There is a tremendous sense of atmosphere.

The first movement has real impulse (many performances of this movement are too slow), the second movement has real intensity, the scherzo sweeps through to the finale in exhilarating fashion.

The orchestra play for their lives.

I don't know how this will sound via more modest equipment.

The acoustic is extremely spacious and though the sound is not diffuse it's a bit distant and may need a higher volume setting.

Yes the playing time is short but this is an outstanding disc."