Sibelius: Finlandia, En Saga, Tapiola, The Swan of Tuonela & Karelia Suite

Karajan’s EMI recordings of Sibelius have to some extent been eclipsed by those he made for the Deutsche Grammophon label. This EMI reissue, however, contains some of Karajan’s finest-ever performances of the Finnish composer's music. It’s anchored by a grippingly dramatic account of the tone-poem Tapiola, Sibelius’ deep dive into the primordial atmosphere of the pine-forests in his native Finland. Flares of heroic brass combine with eerily swirling flute figurations and frighteningly intense string playing in Karajan’s riveting conception. Snarling brass fanfares also empower his Finlandia, where the Berlin Philharmonic’s playing is electrifying in its evocation of the Finnish people’s patriotic struggle for independence. A haunting poetry stalks The Swan of Tuonela, where Gerhard Stempnik supplies the plaintive English horn solo. Equally impressive accounts of En Saga and the Karelia Suite round out a programme which powerfully demonstrates why Karajan was a great Sibelian, and why the composer himself so valued his interpretations.