Happy Birthday Sibelius

[shostakovich]

Dec 8 is Sibelius's birthday. He's 135, and his music is still going strong. Any other Sibelius fans out there? What are your favorites?

[Flowerboy]

Im a somewhat legitamit fan of Sibelius, my favorite piece is Finlandia, and i like his violin concerto also. Dont forget Beethovens B-day dec.16th, and remember to carry your ear-trumpets around with your for the festivities. im being bothered also by the person who couldnt remember the composer of the piece she listened to, although it was a famous piece (shame on him/her, the composer is the most important part of the piece). i was thinking one of three pieces - Finlandia, Egmont overture, or sheherezade, mvt 1, but it could be any piece other than that. im most likely wrong, but its worth a try. Also in the question about the Smetana-sounding music, i thought about moonlight sonata at first (3 notes, beginning of piece, non-symphony). also Smetana went insane, and he might have had that thought in his head that beethoven knew him and wrote music for his name (a psychotic thought, but hey, we all have those.) <BR> flowerboy (no comments please..... )

[treebeau]

The Sibelius Symphony #2 is my favorite piece (of Sibelius, that is). A few months ago I was thinking about it in the morning having not heard it for quite a while. Then, as I was going to lunch it was being played on the radio. What a happy coincidence!

[shostakovich]

Thanks, Stew and Nicole, for putting on a Sibelius tribute, and thanks Flowerboy and Treebeau for responding. Finlandia hooked me, and the finale of the Second Symphony reeled me in. I've become a Sibeliaholic since then, having heard just about all his orchestral music by now. My introduction to the violin concerto came in a record store. I was holding the jacket with a picture of a wintry Finnish forest when the music came over the loudspeaker (singular -- It was before stereo, and in the days before plastic wrap, so you could ask to listen before purchasing). The first notes and the picture made magic in my mind. <BR> The only very popular work of his that I can pass on is Valse Triste. It was theme music for a radio program (I must have been a womb listener) called I Love a Mystery. The music was perfect with the program, and missing something (for me) without it. Thanks, Stew or Nicole, for selecting the Karelia Suite today. The march is fitting music for any birthday celebration.

[serge urtizberea]

Shos, which is your current preferred rendition of his violin c.? The new one by Joshua Bell on Sony is a delight-- I just love the edgy 3rd mov't.

[shostakovich]

Glad you asked, Serge. I have several recordings of the Sibelius violin concerto. My preferred performance is by Stern-Ormandy-Philadelphia, recorded about 40 years ago, and I HOPE still available. I prefer the driven rather than relaxed performances of the concerto. I think youthful performers tend to make a showpiece out of the work (the way I like it), and some older soloists delve deeply and lovingly into the work, in no hurry to get to the end. If "edgy" is the same as "driven", I'm sure I'd like it. I'd probably like it anyway, as there is only one performance that has left me cold, and that's no longer available.<BR>Sibelius would probably have prefered a relaxed version. He took a dim view of showpieces for orchestra, by others or himself. He let it all hang out just 3 times by my count: Finlandia, Lemminkainen's Homecoming, and the finale of the 2nd sym. That makes me think he would not expect a performer to dazzle using his music as a vehicle. Just a guess. <BR>One last aside: he was a violinist in his youth, and hoped to make that his career. But he was self critical,and later felt he would never become the performer he could accept. It's strange, given his love for the violin, that he only wrote one major work for it. There are some lovely lesser works for violin and orchestra: 2 Serenades, Two Serious Melodies, and 6 Humoresques.<BR>Who are your special composers, Serge, and preferred performances?