The playing is very good, tempos are sensible, and the sonics are outstanding in all formats (5-channel surround at a maximum). So what’s the problem? This is simply too tame. The strings play very nicely, every note is in place, but the climaxes fail to register. Granted, this is some of Sibelius’ most subtle music, but that only makes it even more important that the Sixth’s scherzo and finale, the roiling minor-key episode before the Seventh’s pastoral interlude, and the two marches in the Karelia Suite (where’s the swagger?) have the necessary grit. As with all the performances in this series (the First and Third symphonies sound best), underwhelming timpani and brass, horns especially, shortchange the music’s power. Yes, there are some extremely poetic moments, mostly quiet passages, or the strings-only reprise leading to the coda of the Sixth symphony’s finale, but Ashkenazy and his Stockholm players fail to deliver a complete Sibelius experience. It’s that simple.
