Listening to another set of Sibelius symphonies, this one by a Russian conductor whose way with the Rachmaninov Symphony 2 is quite good. Here he's a really mixed bag as is the playing by the orchestra. The first symphony is done in a fashion the likes of which no other performance does - he galumphs over it with big Russian boots - it made me laugh a couple of times, which I don't believe was Sibelius' intention. There's also distortion on the track. So far only the bits of each symphony have worked for me - especially in the second where he brings out some woodwind figures that are wonderful and mostly buried in all the other performances I've heard, and the third and fourth have some nice moments. I've just started the fifth and hopefully it will get better, but the winds, which are REALLY important in the beginning of the symphony are so thin and ugly you want to strangle them.
