Sibelius: Complete Symphonies; Three Late Fragments

Everything, wrote Gerald Abraham in 1947, is calculated for the long view in Sibelius. And that's how John Storgårds conducts the great Finn's seven symphonies. There's a muscularity in Storgårds's approach, a disinclination to dally for momentary expressive effect that makes the first two symphonies seem much more modern than they often do. He draws the Third closer than you might expect to the dark world of the Fourth, and his handling of the later symphonies is nearly as fine. This superbly recorded set also includes tantalising snippets of music that may have been intended for an Eighth Symphony that would never see the light of day – less than three minutes of music to whet your appetite and make you wonder. url.ie/f1f2