EUGENE ORMANDY CONDUCTS SIBELIUS (8 CDS)

The conductor Eugene Ormandy had an unprecedented 44 year association with the Philadelphia Orchestra and from his earliest years held an especial affinity for the music of Jean Sibelius, indeed the gossamer loamy orchestral textures of the Philadelphia Orchestra under Ormandy's baton was an equal partner to the immense scope of Sibelius' output. This marvelous 8 CD box set released on the Sony Classical Masters Series imprint is an almost overwhelming reminder of the scope and affecting beauty of Sibelius' symphonies, tone poems, and violin concertos and also as a bonus to close listeners provides the means to deploy the ability to comparatively listen to the orchestra with Ormandy shape and re-shape their readings with works recorded at different periods of time.

Sibelius:
Finlandia, Op. 26
Valse Triste, Op. 44 No. 1
Violin Concerto in D minor, Op. 47
Isaac Stern (violin)
Valse Triste, Op. 44 No. 1
Lemminkäinen Suite, Op. 22: The Swan of Tuonela (No. 2)
Pohjola's Daughter, Op. 49
The Oceanides, Op. 73
En Saga, Op. 9
Tapiola, Op. 112
Karelia Overture, Op. 10
Karelia Suite, Op. 11
Violin Concerto in D minor, Op. 47
Dylana Jenson (violin)
Symphony No. 1 in E minor, Op. 39
Symphony No. 2 in D major, Op. 43
Symphony No. 4 in A minor, Op. 63
Symphony No. 5 in E flat major, Op. 82
Symphony No. 7 in C major, Op. 105

The Philadelphia Orchestra, Eugene Ormandy