Finnish maestro Hannu Lintu presents and conducts the Finnish Radio Symphony Orchestra in all seven bold and unique symphonies by their celebrated compatriot Jean Sibelius!
"Whereas most other modern composers are engaged in manufacturing cocktails of every hue and description," said Sibelius of his Sixth Symphony, "I offer the public pure spring water." Following the more dissonant Fourth and the Fifth's more tonal bent, the Sixth—several years in the making—shows the irrepressible creativity of Sibelius, this time in terms of tone and mode. Two vast modal soundscapes (D Dorian and C major, which use the same pitches but to remarkably different effect) meet and disband, weaving their threads around one another and creating a deliciously ambivalent atmosphere. At points, the work's singular use of melody almost recalls the ancient music of Palestrina and Monteverdi that Sibelius studied in his youth.
The Orchestre de Paris – Menahem Pressler's Bir...