Side One
- Sibelius: Symphony No.5 in E flat major, Op.82
- First Movement: Tempo molto moderato – Allegro moderato – Presto
- Second Movement: Andante mosso, quasi allegretto
Side Two
- Sibelius: Symphony No.5 in E flat major, Op.82
- Third Movement: Allegro molto
- Sibelius: Tone Poem: Finlandia, Op.26
The Philharmonia Orchestra
Herbert von Karajan
Produced by Walter Legge and engineered by Douglas Larter (Harold Davidson – Finlandia).
Cut with the Neumann VMS80 lathe fed an analogue pre-cut signal from a specially adapted Studer A80 tape deck with additional playback head.
SUPERIOR 180g AUDIOPHILE PRESSING
Before he was appointed music director for life of the Berlin Philharmonic, Karajan was closely associated with the Philharmonia in its early years, although he never held an official title with the orchestra. The founder of the Philharmonia and legendary EMI Producer, Walter Legge, was against appointing an official principal conductor but it was Karajan who built the orchestra into one of the finest ensembles in the world, and made numerous recordings for EMI, including all the Beethoven symphonies and stereo gems like this Sibelius recording.
There is some wonderful playing from the Philharmonia, of course, especially beautifully soft, feathery, string playing. The scherzo itself
is played with great brilliance
GRAMOPHONE, September 1961