MusicFebruary 1998 The Sibelius question On the London Symphony Orchestra's performances of Sibelius at Avery Fisher Hall & “The Sibelius Symposium” at the Stanley Kaplan Penthouse, Lincoln Center, New York The musical reputation of the Finnish composer Jean Sibelius (1865–1957)—deified in the Twenties and Thirties by conductors and public alike, declining markedly in the Forties, and hitting a very deep bottom from the Fifties on—has taken another turn. His shares are up. There is now once more a Sibelius Question. No such thing as a Stravinsky Question or even a Schoenberg Question troubles the sleep of music critics: their respective reputations are secure for the time being. The renewed controversy about the musical viability and the simple quality of Sibelius’s music was the subject of a series of performances and a symposium in December at Avery Fisher Hall titled “Northern Lights: The Music of Jean Sibelius.” Sir Colin Davis and the London Symphony performed three concerts of five of the seven symphonies of the Finnish master, plus a few tone poems and some songs for soprano and orche ... This article is available to subscribers and for individual purchaseSubscribe to TNC (Print and Online editions) Subscribe to TNC (Online only) This article originally appeared in The New Criterion, Volume 16 February 1998, on page 51 Copyright © 2012 The New Criterion | www.newcriterion.com http://www.newcriterion.com/articles.cfm/sibeliusquestion-coleman-3112
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A review of Molto Agitato: The Mayhem Behind the Music at the Metropolitan Opera, by Johanna Fiedler, Covent Garden: The Untold Story, by Norman Lebrecht, Valery Gergiev and the Kirov: A Story of Survival, by John Ardoin.
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