On this new recording, one need only listen to the Andante second movement of the Symphony No. 1 in E minor, Op. 39 by Jean Sibelius, to realize that they are in for a warm and poignant view of the music of Sibelius. Much of this composer's output is based on Finnish tales and legends of epic proportions, and that influence can certainly be felt within the fabric of his Symphonies.

Nature also always makes its presence felt within these works, as in the pulsing rhythms evoking wind swept fields, recurring many times within the Symphony No. 3 in C major, Op. 52, a work dedicated to the great Granville Bantock, and sharing that composer's bucolic, or rustic backdrops to music, with many hints of folklore influenced tunes within the score.

Two of this composer's most typical and conventional symphonies therefore kick-off this new Naxos series of recordings of all the symphonies, with the New Zealand Symphony Orchestra under the kindred spirit direction of Finnish conductor Pietari Inkinen . Readings both warm and expressive, with a sound to match!

Jean-Yves Duperron - December 2010