The Von Karajan Sibelius two-CD set arrived today and I immediately listened to the 5th (he only recorded four through seven for Deutsche Grammophon - he did all but the third, which he's never recorded, on a later EMI set). This mostly got five-star reviews on Amazon, but as always there's at least one person who calls something a travesty. The question is, who's right? Well, if the 5th is any indicator of who's right, it's the five-star reviews. First of all, the sound is absolutely stunning - every bit of it - so clear and warm and open and with all the detail you'd ever want. Secondly, everything about the performance and the playing is fantastic - it's now tied with Barbirolli for my favorite 5th of what I've heard - and the big going into the big tune is so perfect here and that was my only caveat with Barbirolli - it didn't quite emotionally do it for me, whereas this is everything I'd ever want from that moment. I'm listening to the 4th now and it's equally as good, but it's the sound that's simply blowing me away.
