Pohjola's Daughter probably is my favorite Sibelius tone poem, and this is without question its finest performance on disc. In fact, I find it little short of amazing, and to describe each and every felicity of interpretation and execution would require a bar-by-bar analysis. But let me begin by saying that Leif Segerstam and the Helsinki Philharmonic, both here and in the Fourth Symphony, achieve that mysterious alchemy that produces great Sibelius: a perfect equilibrium between incidental detail and structural cogency. Pohjola's Daughter is particularly treacherous in this regard, and there are three places where most performances are likely to go wrong. The first occurs at the beginning, where after the dark introduction (never more primal or texturally aware than here), the movement begins its transition to the initial allegro. Segerstam not only picks ideal basic tempos, he also builds the energy gradually, so that the great brass chorale to which the passage leads erupts with complete inevitability from what has come before.

The next danger spot is also transitional: the end of the development, from the daughter's mocking laughter (second time around) to the recapitulation. Here Segerstam permits a bit of rhetorical emphasis, milking the mockery to brilliant effect and building the ensuing fracas to a huge climax, but then returning immediately to Tempo I so that the recapitulation takes off like a shot--exactly the opposite of what happened at the beginning of the piece. It's a subtle distinction, but one that underlines the drama of the work's narrative thread. Finally, at the big return of principal allegro, Segerstam superbly manages the tricky balances between orchestral sections as the theme gets tossed between brass and woodwinds. Usually this turns out to be a mess, with either the winds buried by the string ostinatos, or the brass unnaturally held back. Segerstam lets the trumpets strut their stuff, manages to keep the winds audible, and never suggests that the strings aren't chugging along full-bore. And you can still hear the harp. If you love this work you badly need to listen to this.

Happily, the performance of the Fourth Symphony remains at the same exalted level, easily on par with the finest available. Segerstam has picked up his pace a bit, all to the good, in comparison with his soft-focus previous Danish Radio recording for Chandos; but even more significantly he once again manages to plumb the depths of the music's colors and textures without any sacrifice in momentum. Always careful when it comes to matters of string articulation, his approach pays huge dividends in both outer movements. The symphony's opening never has sounded more like a desperate groping toward the light--and listen to how effortlessly but powerfully the Helsinki brass manage those tricky transitional crescendos, capped by true nobility of tone in the chorale that introduces the second subject.

A beautifully shaped oboe solo graces much of the scherzo, and Segerstam understands how to emphasize the darkness in the second half of the movement without any slackening in tension. The third movement, Il tempo largo, flows in such a way that its fragmented phrases and spasmodic melodies fit together like the pieces of a puzzle, and the music is all the more bleak and powerful with its continuity thus preserved. In the finale Segerstam correctly uses the glockenspiel, even managing to respect Sibelius' "sonore" directive at the central climax without additional help from tubular bells. Everyone plays their hearts out here, culminating in an anguished and despairing coda whose bleakness never lapses into stasis. The grim final pages set the seal on what has been an outstanding Sibelius symphony cycle, of which this strikes me as the finest release of all. As a bonus, Ondine includes a fervent Finlandia in its version with male choir, and the engineering is truly outstanding--at one with the music and ensuring that the whole production sounds just plain gorgeous. These are essential, revelatory interpretations that no Sibelian worth his stripes can afford to miss. [4/30/2005]

--David Hurwitz