The acoustic of the Guildhall, Southampton catches just a touch of reverberation to give the music that sense of expansive distance, so important to this great symphonic tribute to nature. This Fifth Symphony opens with a rounded and beautifully evocative rendition of the wind solos. En Saga.īournemouth Symphony Orchestra conducted by Paavo BerglundĤ discs budget-price. Technically though, this is not a bad reading – there are many details to be heard. The interpretation does not “smile” enough… it is just somewhat too serious. The phrasing is just a little bit too rigid, lacking a sort of “lyric curvaceousness”.
The slow movement is played with ample detail, but sounds just a little bit detached. When one compares this to more joyous, magnificent interpretations – it is difficult to recommend this Fifth, if only because the “Swan Hymn” is such a crucial point with collectors of this symphony. Sakari plays down and does not exploit the majestic modulation into C major in the famous climax of the “Swan Hymn”. The difficult punctuating phrase from the double-basses sound very ugly here (granted, this isn’t the only performance where this is a flaw). The introduction sounds tired, compared to other versions, and though the pacing of the horns in the “Swan Hymn” is good, they sound just a tad weary. However, the finale is unsatisfactory – it is quite literally unimpressive. I greatly enjoyed the magnificent performance of the first movement – it has great flow, excellent stringwork, with detailed, unfussy ostinato, ample orchestral body and visionary splendour displayed in the original second movement. Iceland Symphony Orchestra conducted by Petri Sakari
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