This is a review of the SACD surround layer of this disc.I bought the original vinyl release back in 1976 of this recording. Then this recording of Sibelius' Symphony Nos. 5 and 7 was immediately praised as being a great passionate performance by Colin Davis and the Boston Symphony orchestra and the recording was praised as exceptional. Now Pentatone has re-mastered the original master tapes that were recorded in 4 channels including 2 ambient rear channels and have given us a 4 channel surround SACD. Now f..
When Colin Davis recorded the complete Sibelius symphony series with the Boston Symphony back in the early-mid 1970s -- & -- it hit the classical music world with the force of a hurricane. Critics fell all over them selves heaping superlatives onto the set. And I was one of those for whom the set became a desert island choice. Since then Colin Davis has re-recorded the entire set with the London Symphony -- . I read the glowing...
These are good performances by Davis and the BSO, the virtues of which have been well canvassed in other reviews. On balance, the performance of the 5th is the more memorable, a reading of craggy grandeur. Davis adopts a broadish tempo for the first movement, which he builds up to a very imposing conclusion.The sound, at least in SACD stereo or standard CD layer, is impressive overall; there is a pleasing tangibility and depth (notice, for example, the lower strings at around the 2 minute mark of the firs..