Sibelius - Symphony No. 6 (Karajan / Berlin PO)

Sibelius - Symphony No. 6 in D minor, Op. 104
0:00 Allegro molto moderato
9:17 Allegretto moderato
15:37 Poco vivace
19:08 Allegro molto
Berlin Philharmonic / Herbert von Karajan
Recorded in 1968.

[@relax2234]

unbelievable string playing. Great, good old days of the BPO.

[@petermisch3586]

LEICHT und zugleich unglaublich vorwärts drängend - genial!!

[@scuunjieng]

this was my introduction to my favorite Sibelius work when I was a teenager in the 70s. what orchestral playing as well. many thanks

[@michaelrobeson7529]

Mine also!

[@THEMGOROTH75]

Great music and great painting! Pure Romanticism !!

[@stevesincock6905]

A great cycle - Sebelius / Karajan. Thanks for posting.

[@ArtyFactual_Intelligence]

Karajan never recorded a complete Sibelius cycle. DG had to get Okko Kamu to fill in for the earlier symphonies when they wished to issue a box-set of LPs. If anyone has a recording of Karajan doing JS#3 I hope they will put it on KZbin !

[@sepiae]

When I was much shorter I had my very first encounter with Sibelius thanks to this very recording. I then forgot the record on a bus. Couldn't find it again, only later recordings with H.v.K., and they didn't reproduce what I had with this one. I absolutely love the simplicity of Karajan's not too imposing approach, especially to the 1st movement (as opposed to later recordings), keeping the tempo straight in the opening. Thus, many thanks to you, DonDiego256, you reunited :) Also always thought the cover is fitting perfectly. Anyone has any idea who's painting that is?

[@DonDiego256]

Thought the original LP had the name of the cover artist. Went and looked and I couldn't find it :( You can check the lp for yourself, this page has some fairly high-res scans of the covers. www.cdandlp.com/en/herbert-von-karajan/sibelius-:-symphonies-nos.6-7/lp/r119561015/

[@sepiae]

@@DonDiego256 Yeah, I tried that already before I posted the comment :D Oh well, unknown artist, you've been used well. Thanks again for posting,, it's a wonderful recording.

[@ГерманУстинов-з1х]

Life!!!!

[@DavidA-ps1qr]

A wonderfully controlled interpretation here. Von Karajan obeys the composer's score with authority in both tempo and dynamic. The result: A stunning performance of what is arguably not one of Sibelius' greatest works but made so enjoyable. Sadly, the wheels were starting to fall off the wagon.

[@ArtyFactual_Intelligence]

I wonder which wagon suffered the loss of wheels? That case has not been argued. For symphonic perfection and control of material Sibelius' best two works are widely viewed as being the later 7th Symphony and Tapiola, with this earlier miracle (for me) neck and neck in the chase. Many Sibelius-nuts opt for the 6th and 3rd, in the same way as many Beethovenians value his 4th Symphony equally as highly as its more celebrated neighbours.

[@DavidA-ps1qr]

@@ArtyFactual_Intelligence You make good points and thank you for your reply. The discussions about which of his symphonies was the greatest will go on forever. That is of course if people in the future will still be listening or even playing them.

[@ArtyFactual_Intelligence]

@@DavidA-ps1qr Greetings. I believe parents have a duty to introduce the marvels of past cultural achievements to their offspring, and just HOPE that some seeds grow. Exposure, just short of indoctrination ...😉.My long-departed father regularly reminded me that his favourite Beethoven symphony was the one he was listening to at that time. I think the pages of youtube are full of a similar perfectly reasonable attitudes, and hopefully the enthusiasm of keyboard tappers might encourage a broadening of tastes within repertoire and beyond. But I hope we are not pushing the proverbial uphill by encouraging readers and youtubers to try Aho, Nordgren and Kokkonen. I believe that only by promoting modern composers can the past legacy not just turn dusty and end up like the Dead Sea Scrolls.

[@DavidA-ps1qr]

@@ArtyFactual_Intelligence You are absolutely correct. The 3 composers you mention are very worthy of investigation. All 4 Kokkonen symphonies are especially good in my view. The problem with appreciating this genre of music is concentration. You see, anyone under 40 has been brought up listing to Albums/CDs. These contain tracks of music that invariably last between 4-6 minutes, then it changes to something different (even by the same artist). People have become conditioned to listen to music in this way. Give them a Beethoven symphony that lasts over half an hour and they simply cannot focus on it. I have spoken to many musicians about this theory and as yet nobody has given me a solution. Perhaps the answer is training the brain at a younger age, but I don't think our education system has any desire to do this and neither do parents, as they haven't mastered it either. Finally, I think the pages of You Tube are filled with an awful lot of stupid comments and it's extremely satisfying to find someone like yourself who actually knows what he's talking about. Regards. David A

[@Blauwhoed]

Of an almost unbearable and unsurpassable beauty!

[@hugokubarth9316]

The "out of inspiration symphony" - at least mvmts 3&4

[@RichardWhitbread-cq3up]

The 'out of inspiration' symphony...? How in heaven's name did you ever arrive at that conclusion...?