Paavo Berglund and the Bournemouth Symphony recorded the complete Sibelius symphonies during the mid-1970s. This Unesco Classics reissue includes the 1974 recording of Symphony No. 5, one of the highlights of the series, coupled with Ida Haendel’s accomplished reading of the Violin Concerto from 1976. Both recordings were made at the Guildhall, Southampton, and the warm, mildly reverberant acoustic is well reproduced here. CD remastering also has reduced tape-hiss, which often was an annoyance in quieter passages when listening to the original LP releases. Berglund’s version of the symphony is a powerfully implacable one, and features good orchestral playing throughout. The solo horn near the beginning has an impressively rounded tone, and the massed brass (especially first trumpet and bass trombone) play with admirable security and confidence throughout. The solo oboe also is an excellent player, and his contributions to the slow movement are memorable.
One failing is the climax to the first movement, where running passagework for the strings loses its focus and clarity as Berglund winds up the tension too much. The pizzicato ostinatos in the middle section of the Andante don’t achieve the brittle clarity they ideally need, probably due more to the recording than the performance, but Berglund draws out the full contrast between the hymn-like main idea and the more settled central episode. Thor’s hammer swings into life at the start of the finale, but what’s lacking is the contrast in quieter passages, like the difficult staccato variant of the hammer-swinging motif for the violins, where some ragged ensemble is apparent. The coda is impressive, and the recording allows the timpani strokes just in advance of the main beat in the last two dominant/tonic chords to be heard, which is always exciting. Haendel’s account of the concerto is fine indeed, played with great technical refinement (the first movement cadenza is magnificently done) and a big, fulsome tone throughout. Unesco provides good transfers and perfectly acceptable performances of both works in these no-frills reissues, with nothing in the way of booklet notes.
