The very best Sibelius recordings in analog

I strongly agree with Schubert’s premise re the connection between the spoken language of a culture and its music and music making. This is something that is well documented and analyzed in musicology. Of course (and only as one example) an American conductor can bring certain interpretative elements to Russian music that render it great or even "perfect" to a given listener. However, there is no doubt in my mind that in many cases (not all, obviously) a Russian (again, only as an example) conductor can sometimes bring something to the music that eludes conductors who don’t have the depth of understanding of the culture and language that the Russian conductor might. Just two examples based on personal experience (for whatever it may worth):

As an orchestral saxophonist I have played Mussorgsky’s (Ravel) "Pictures At An Exibition" and Rachmaninov’s "Symphonic Dances" more times than I can remember; including the Rachmaninov with the American orchestra that the work was written for and who premiered it. There have been several fine and memorable performances of the two works. However, it wasn’t until I had the privilege of playing "Pictures" under Gergiev and "Symphonic Dances" with the St. Petersburg under Temirkanov that I "got" those works and understood what had been missing in the somewhat sanitized renditions that I had either heard or been part of with American orchestras and conductors. There were stylistic and phrasing details that got to the core of the music in very convincing ways; the music made sense on a deeper level.

Case # 1 for music is difference between French and German classical music which been expounded upon for a least a century.
I’ve read several times that some conductors won’t touch "Symphonic Dances" for that  reason . 
I'd like to hear JoAnn Falletta  give it a shot myself .

Not a few think part of reason that Sibelius is so beloved by Finns ( what other composers birthday is a National Holiday) is that his native tongue was Swedish, and as a perfectionist, he studied Finnish in a way few Finns ever did.
He said he knew he was a true Finn when he started to dream in it .


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From my childhood years of piano lessons I still remember the joy of that moment when I could play without thinking or looking at the score! Verbalizing while sparring with your carate-class buddy is a quick road to a knock-out. But. Interpreting great music takes more than basic/learned reflexes and logical half of the brain. If chess were an art form then Kasparov would have never been beaten by an old computer. It is a miracle that good chess players can remember infinite variations of the first 8-10 moves. Miracle for the feeble brains like mine, but not Art

You’re missing the point sevs, if you brain could not verbalize you never would have got past your high-chair stage .
Most of what humans do is done in our sub-conscious. the brain is talking like crazy, you just don't know it .

Story of my life... ;-)