Posted by Ross on May 10, 1999 at 15:41:02:
Giacomo and I have been very unkind to that supposedly definitive Berlioz-interpreter Sir Colin Davis (see our exchange below). However, having heard his recordings of Sibelius' Symphonies 3 and 7 (from the 1970s, on Philips), I have to say he is an amazing conductor. I'm not sure if I've ever heard a performance of the Third that argues the work so powerfully. Even the excellent Jarvi recording, on BIS, doesn't have the oomph that Davis gives it. And the Seventh concludes so much more powerfully than the Karajan version on DG. Now I'm anxious to hear the whole set! Fortunately, all the symphonies have been reissued at mid-price on a couple of Philips Duos, with the Violin Concerto (Salvatore Accardo) and some of the symphonic poems, as filler. I may not be crazy about Davis' Berlioz, but this is going to be my next investment!