Berliner Philharmoniker, Herbert von Karajan - Sibelius: Symphonien Nos. 4-7 (1999)

Karajan's style suits Sibelius's work - Smooth, stylized and sophisticated sound. Karajan had the ability to remove the human element from music. This may not work with his Beethoven symphony cycle, but it works here. Sibelius music feels like being in an alien land, where no human is present. The sanitizing effect of Karajan - music polished to the degree that music feels devoid of human presence, is uncannily just the correct mood for the Sibelius effect.

This is also one of the better recordings of Karajan recording soundwise. I find that Karajan's records during his late recording years tend to be shrill with the kind of digital recording technology (probably new at that time) that was employed by Deutsche Grammaphon. I also hear Karajan used to have artistic license over manipulating the acoustic engineering of the DG digital recordings. His Beethoven cycle has this shrill metallic over-amped treble high quality. But this recording is so much more wholesome. The art of Karajan's conducting style shines through with Sibelius which make this CD set great; on top of that the sound quality is so good it is like a blue ray for the ears.

Coming to Sibelius as a composer - there is so much invention in themes. They are so unique that you cannot peg a particular theme as folksy. You cannot brand the musical motifs because the phrases come and go, on a wave of breakthrough musical ideas. Some phrases live short and are gone, but the lasting sound of that tune or theme still lingers - as something mysterious which you cannot put your finger on. I had to listen to this 2 CD set four times to get some form of comprehension of the symphonies as a whole to satisfy the musical completeness of these symphonies in my mind; there are simply so many musical ideas bubbling through. The individual themes and phrases are like different cracks in the icy landscape and you need to zoom out and see the whole network of icy formation which is made of thatches of all these individual icy musical strokes. The Sibelius symphonies to me are unlike symphonies by other composers; to me they are large tone poems which paint musical pictures of icy lands where there is no human or animal. An inert place and unknown place, which no one knows about and no one will discover. It could well be the icy planet Europa or an icy planet outside our galaxy. All 4 symphonies in this 2 CD set (symphonies 4, 5, 6 and 7) as well as the two tone poems - The swan of Tuoneloa and Tapiola are wonderfully played. Which symphony is dear to someone is a subjective decision of the listener. Personally of all the four symphonies - the fifth symphony touches me the most...so if I may digress on this symphony...

Symphony 5 - This symphony written in 1915, revised by Sibelius again in 1916 and then once more in 1919 is an absolute gem. The first two movements bridge as one piece without a break (I did not even notice the movement had changed) and the intensity that builds in the last 5 minutes of the 2nd movement is uplifitng grandeur. The third movement's opening pizzicato theme is used as a recurring motif throughout this movement and keeps appearing in the movement as variations of the original iteration (as in the opening of the movement) - propelling the theme forward, and transforming it into new passages for solo instruments and orchestra with the undercurrent of the original pizzicato theme in the strings and orchestra. The repetitions of this theme are delicately balanced and innovatively modified for several instruments - not sounding banal or repetetive during any iteration. The last movement opens with a swirling cyclic circulating rhythm in the strings (feel traces of Beethoven's Eroica?) and transitions to an underlying brass theme which forms the bedrock over which is presented a second major theme in counterpoint. Then we have transformations of the first swirling theme - moving to elegiac passages in between; There are so many mood shifts in this movement from the nervous fervent to the peaceful-all-knowing mood. These mood changes make this work a delight to listen to. When I listen to this symphony, I feel like I am on an alien planet in a different galaxy where no other human exists and I am all alone. The music is devoid of human relativity.

This 2 CD set is a 5 star purchase hands-down. The characteristic - Devoid of human connectivity or human relativity - is the key to why Karajan and Sibelius go hand in hand; Sibelius composed that way, Karajan conducted that way.