FINster. Good cameo for Sibelius.

Finster must adhere to your theory of scarcity: the more she restricts her appearances, the more we love them.

I love Sibelius. His tone poems are Epic. En Saga is epic

I don’t know how many dozen people would buy it, but I’d like a Horst Stein box from Decca. His Bruckner 2nd and 6th are great…and I love that Sibelius tone poem disc.

Oh, at last Carl von Garaguly! Thank you, Dave! His Sibelius 1 & 7 is one of the greatest Sibelius discs EVER!! Unbelievably electrifying performances. Greetings from Berlin, Harry

That Szell concerto in Tokyo, it's difficult to argue with you, it's simply downright marvelous! Although Szell is up there, the Sibelius 2 to end all Sibelius 2's, though, is imho Barbirolli's with The Royal Philharmonia (Chesky/Testament). I had the double-cd of Szell's Tokyo-concerto, that you placed on your overflow shelf (well, of course not the exact same copy, but I guess, you know what I mean...) . Then I got the Korean Sony Szell box, back then the most comprehensive selection of Szell recordings in the best sound. The Tokyo concert was included - and hence I gave my single-issued double-cd away. Then came the wonderfull Sony Szell box, but as you mention, without the Tokyo concert...and now I'm stuck with the magnum box and the Korean box, just for the Tokyo concert! Aaarrrgh, sometimes it's difficult not to hate the record industry! 🤬☠️👹😅

sibelicious

I am a big Sibelius fan, but I am undecided on a favorite Sibelius recording. George Szell made a wonderful recording of the 2nd symphony, but sadly didn`t record anything else. Hans Rosbaud made an excellent recording of some tone poems for DG, but it's a Mono recording. I think it's an unofficial requirement, that being part Finnish means you have to love the music of Jean Sibelius.

YAY!!!

Very curious about Beecham and Sibelius. He did nearly everything of consequence--but never seems to have touched Symphonies 3 and 5. 3 should have been right in his wheelhouse. The two fastest 5s I know are Koussevitzky and the BSO and one by Efrem Kurtz from 1948. Not many seem to have dragged Sibelius tempi during the composer's lifetime.