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Posted by LEE DENHAM on February 19, 2025, 1:46 pm, in reply to "Karajan’s Sibelius 7"
Hi Garry
Thanks for pointing out a rare slip-up from Ralph Moore in his review of Rouvali’s recording of the Sibelius Seventh.
In answer to your question, at the time of Karajan’s death there was an outstanding contractual obligation for Karajan to record Sibelius’s Third and Seventh Symphony for EMI. Clearly due to his resignation from the Berlin Philharmonic a few months before his passing, it is difficult to see how this obligation would have been met had he lived longer, but the Third Symphony is clearly a work he would be familiar with, even if it was not in his concert repertoire. Indeed, although he performed the last four symphonies fairly often, he only prepared Sibelius’s First Symphony for concerts with the Berlin Staatskapelle in the 1940’s from the first three. As to the reason why, nobody knows – the only thing he ever said was that he admired Sibelius’s final four symphonies immensely and much more than the earlier ones.
Hope that helps,
Lee 
Previous Message
In his review of Rouvali’s latest Sibelius recording Ralph Moore states categorically but incorrectly that Karajan “never recorded it [ Symphony no.7] for EMI”. The words “with the Berlin Phil.” should be added; Karajan did record no.7 for EMI with the Philharmonia in July 1955, “ an overwhelming performance” ( Malcolm Macdonald, Gramophone April 1956). When it came to recording the Sibelius symphonies with the Berlin Phil. in 1977-81, Karajan omitted both no.3 (which he never performed) and, for some reason, no.7. Does anyone know why?
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Karajan’s Sibelius 7 - Garry Broughton February 18, 2025, 12:30 pm
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