Sibelius: Symphonies Nos. 4 & 5
New Zealand Symphony Orchestra, Pietari Inkinen
[In No. 4] the NZSO musters rare tension and foreboding. Inkinen isn’t afraid to let the music’s silences breathe, and he finds a steely clarity – notably in the hand-stopped horns and vibrato-less...
Sibelius: Symphonies Nos. 4 & 5
New Zealand Symphony Orchestra, Pietari Inkinen
Purchase product
[In No. 4] the NZSO musters rare tension and foreboding. Inkinen isn’t afraid to let the music’s silences breathe, and he finds a steely clarity – notably in the hand-stopped horns and vibrato-less...
About
On this second volume of Sibelius Symphonies (Nos. 1 and 3 are available on Naxos 8572305), the acclaimed young Finnish conductor Pietari Inkinen interprets two of his compatriot’s most contrasting symphonies.
Symphony No. 4 is a work of ominous brooding and bleak desolation, reflecting Sibelius’s psychological state at the time of its composition. Sibelius commented of his much-revised and expansively heroic Symphony No. 5 ‘It is as if God the Father had thrown down mosaic pieces from heaven’s floor and asked me to put them back as they were.’
Contents and tracklist
Awards and reviews
24th January 2011
[In No. 4] the NZSO musters rare tension and foreboding. Inkinen isn’t afraid to let the music’s silences breathe, and he finds a steely clarity – notably in the hand-stopped horns and vibrato-less clarinet – that’s perfect for this eerie musical line-drawing.
March 2011
The Fourth has rare tension and foreboding - Inkinen isn't afraid to let the silences breathe and the textures have a steely clarity...The Fifth is structurally impressive; the first movement pivots on the initial 'flight' theme heard on legato trumpets (there's great tension before it and huge release after it) while the moment of ascent in the finale comes off very well.
March 2011
Inkinen proves a relatively cool, self-effacing guide, eschewing originality for its own sake in the pursuit of sweet-tempered naturalness...it is the restraint that impresses most...Inkinen makes the music sounds as though it's playing itself.
March 2011
these turn out to be impressively personal accounts that move away from the mainstream...It's not that the symphonies are underplayed. In part because of Inkinen's handling of long-range dynamics, there's a gripping sense of expectation in the last movement of the Fourth; and the closing pages of the Fifth ring out with bold authority...The orchestra plays magnificently.
30th January 2011
The whole series is powerfully played and directed.
6th January 2011
Naxos really seems to have struck gold with the young Finnish conductor Pietari Inkinen...In many ways, Inkinen is an uncompromisingly direct Sibelius interpreter, willing to trust the composer's wonderful sense of musical architecture and orchestral colour
