Long considered one of the very finest Sibelius symphony cycles, I recently picked this up and wanted to share my thoughts on it. Until now, I owned only Symphony #2 on a single disc, and had heard #5 separately via streaming. In both cases, I thought they were solid and very well played, but neither really moved me.
Symphony #1. This immediately summons thoughts of swirling winds and heavy snow, conjuring visions of cruel nature that usually don't appear until later in Sibelius' career. Normally, this comes off as Sibelius' most fiery, romantic symphony, with frequent comparisons to Tschaikovsky. Davis attempts to thematically connect this early symphony with later ones, and while he certainly succeeded, for me the music is sorely underplayed, with winds and horned suppressed and an over-reliance on (admittedly stunning) strings sonority. Full points for the inspiration and execution, but very much lacking in excitement.
Symphony #2. I can't fault the technical work by the orchestra here, but once again I find this to be much underplayed and lacking in excitement. The first two movements are played relatively quickly, which is a good thing because nothing drives this symphony into dreadful tedium more than lagging tempos, particularly in the slow movement. But the fourth movement stagnates out of the gate with a brutally slow tempo, and the horns fail to bring the piece to life near the end. There is little sense of urgency or hard won triumph that usually concludes the piece. Some might prefer to hear Sibelius 2 with its more patriotic aspects toned down (this is also true of Davis' very ho-hum "Finlandia"), but it's not for me.
Symphony #3. This is Sibelius' most classical symphony, and in my view, the cheeriest and most difficult to reconcile stylistically with the rest of the works in the cycle. But Davis drags it into the swirling void and it actually works. This is a hefty, weighty version that perfectly bridges the bombast of the second with the melancholy of the fourth. A very pleasant surprise.
Symphony #4. Considering the bleakness of the third, I was expected total devastation from Davis with the fourth. Vanska would eventually get there with his Lahti cycle a couple of decades later. Vanska understood how to pull out all the gnarly, gritty details in this symphony. Davis' version, like everything in this cycle so far, is wonderfully played but a bit too polished for the mood the music demands, and for what I was expecting based on his interpretations to this point.
Symphony #5. The unique vibrato achieved by the BSO's brass section is supposedly an acquired taste. I found it shrill and distracting in the first movement, which takes forever to get rolling and is then rudely interrupted by the piercing tones of the brass. Fortunately, things get much better from there. The second movement is unsentimental, perfectly paced, and nicely balanced within the orchestra. In the third movement, Davis drives the orchestra at a blistering tempo. This is how Sibelius wrote it, but most conductors and orchestras don't try (or can't) sustain the pace. It's a heart-pounding start to the finale and barely slows down leading into the swan theme. Clearly Davis wants the entire finale to sound breathless almost until the end, and while overall it's quicker than I'd like, again I can't fault the vision and execution.
Symphony #6. Oddly enough, this comes off as the cheeriest symphony of the bunch, mainly because it's blazing fast, clocking at around 25 minutes whereas most conductors take around 30. Instead of starting out light in the first movement and gradually slowing to a crawl as the symphony proceeds (with a respite in the third movement), Davis gradually accelerates as he goes. The final movement is unexpectedly bouncy and light, with nary a touch of grimness even in the final minutes. Much like the third symphony, Davis conceptualizes the work as a bridge between the sweeping grandiosity of the fifth and the taut efficiency of the seventh. Davis' sixth comes across very much like a single movement piece with its uniformity in phrasing and tempo. This symphony way overdelivered for me.
A major reason why I became so attached to Sibelius' symphonies is their malleability. The same work can be happy or sad, patriotic or grim, delicate or heavy, containing a menu of polar opposites that can expressed within the same piece of music. There is no better justification for collecting multiple versions or cycles by the same composer, and Davis' version of the sixth is a perfect example of this.
Symphony #7. As I expected after hearing the sixth, this symphony flows consistently and energetically, and the momentum never lags. I found it a bit lacking in dynamics range -- the highs are never too high and the lows never too low, the climaxes are a bit underplayed, and the softer parts aren't given enough room to breathe. It's a strong effort but not in the upper tier of sevenths I've heard, although once more I can't fault the playing or the execution.
Overall, this is an inspired cycle, and even though each interpretation isn't to my taste, Davis' vision for each symphony is clearly on display. He has a concept for how the cycle should evolve, sticks to it, and executes it flawlessly. For comparison, Berglund's Bournemouth cycle is still my favourite, as it represents the apotheosis of these symphonies played in a wide range of styles by a large, overpowering orchestra. The bulk of Davis' cycles is great, but lacks moments that send chills down my spine, something that Berglund does repeatedly.
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