Sibelius: Complete Symphonies, Orchestral Works
Sir John Barbirolli
This 6‑SACD box gathers Sir John Barbirolli’s complete Sibelius recordings with the Hallé Orchestra for EMI, newly remastered and packaged as Sibelius: Complete Symphonies, Orchestral Works. Recorded in stereo at Kingsway Hall between 1966 and 1970, the set includes Symphonies Nos. 1–7 alongside major tone poems and shorter orchestral pieces such as Finlandia, Pelléas et Mélisande, The Swan of Tuonela, En saga, Tapiola, Karelia Suite, and other works that Barbirolli helped champion in the UK. Sibelius himself called Barbirolli a “devoted admirer” and wrote that he was always happy when his music was in the conductor’s “masterful hands,” a sentiment that has fed this cycle’s near‑legendary status among Sibelius interpreters.
Interpretively, the performances are noted for their combination of rugged, organic pacing and intense emotional commitment. Barbirolli lets the music breathe—tempos in symphonies like the Second and Fifth tend to be spacious—but he builds long paragraphs of sound that culminate in overwhelming climaxes, with the Hallé’s dark string tone and characterful winds underlining the music’s raw, Nordic colour. Critics often single out No. 2 as a speciality (heroic, granitic yet lyrical), while also praising the stark, haunted Sixth and a Seventh that balances architectural clarity with a powerful sense of inevitability, especially in the recurring trombone theme. In the tone poems, pieces like Finlandia and The Swan of Tuonela benefit from Barbirolli’s ear for atmosphere: he gives their hymn‑like or nocturnal passages time to bloom without losing dramatic tension.
Sibelius: Complete Symphonies, Orchestral Works
Sir John Barbirolli
This 6‑SACD box gathers Sir John Barbirolli’s complete Sibelius recordings with the Hallé Orchestra for EMI, newly remastered and packaged as Sibelius: Complete Symphonies, Orchestral Works. Recorded in stereo at Kingsway Hall between 1966 and 1970, the set includes Symphonies Nos. 1–7 alongside major tone poems and shorter orchestral pieces such as Finlandia, Pelléas et Mélisande, The Swan of Tuonela, En saga, Tapiola, Karelia Suite, and other works that Barbirolli helped champion in the UK. Sibelius himself called Barbirolli a “devoted admirer” and wrote that he was always happy when his music was in the conductor’s “masterful hands,” a sentiment that has fed this cycle’s near‑legendary status among Sibelius interpreters.
Interpretively, the performances are noted for their combination of rugged, organic pacing and intense emotional commitment. Barbirolli lets the music breathe—tempos in symphonies like the Second and Fifth tend to be spacious—but he builds long paragraphs of sound that culminate in overwhelming climaxes, with the Hallé’s dark string tone and characterful winds underlining the music’s raw, Nordic colour. Critics often single out No. 2 as a speciality (heroic, granitic yet lyrical), while also praising the stark, haunted Sixth and a Seventh that balances architectural clarity with a powerful sense of inevitability, especially in the recurring trombone theme. In the tone poems, pieces like Finlandia and The Swan of Tuonela benefit from Barbirolli’s ear for atmosphere: he gives their hymn‑like or nocturnal passages time to bloom without losing dramatic tension.