"For the life of me, I CANNOT understand a criticism like this!"

Unfortunately, Chris, I can.

Let me be clear: since Sibelius is on my shortlist of favorite composers, BIS is a critically important presence in my music collection, and I view Robert von Bahr as a truly heroic figure. And of course I've been collecting the new Vanska/Minnesota cycle, with this last disc soon to be ordered.

Having said that, I can understand the criticism leveled by Musicweb International's reviewer. Especially with Vanska's recordings, I sometimes struggle to hear the lower dynamics. But this is due almost entirely to the compromised nature of my hearing, which makes the lowest part of the dynamic scale challenging to apprehend. And I'm not even sure I would accept the "genuine concert hall experience" claim, because I attend about 18-20 live orchestral concerts a year (on average) in various venues, and what I hear on some of Vanska's recordings is not what I hear in the concert hall. And oddly enough, it's also not what I hear in a lot of other BIS recordings, such as the recent discs out of Bergen. My guess? Vanska's approach to dynamics is like Celibidache's approach to tempi: let's see how close to the breaking point I can get this.

Your enthusiasm about the performances in view here causes me to anticipate my first listening, but I will reserve the right to be dissatisfied with the dynamics. Is that OK? And if Vanska's dynamics are too much for my bum hearing, well...there's always Ormandy!

Thanks for your post, and for addressing the two reviews. I guess it's one of those YMMV things.

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Follow Ups Full Thread

Topic - Vanska and the Minnesotans finally complete their Sibelius cycle - Chris from Lafayette 09:10:46 08/14/16 (21)

The dynamic range argument will go on and on.... - srl1 18:23:51 08/15/16 (1)

RE: The dynamic range argument will go on and on.... - oldmkvi 10:13:07 08/16/16 (0)

Really a milestone - TGR 09:22:02 08/15/16 (5)

RE: "I think the SFS actually plays better for him than for MTT!" - Ivan303 12:25:03 08/15/16 (4)

Agreed, actually - TGR 13:14:26 08/15/16 (3)

RE: " Also they play better for Bychkov" - Ivan303 13:55:54 08/15/16 (2)

I have seen him twice - TGR 16:30:21 08/15/16 (1)

I saw him in Oakland with the Vienna Phil... - Ivan303 16:39:50 08/15/16 (0)

RE: Vanska and the Minnesotans finally complete their Sibelius cycle - learsfool 20:53:24 08/14/16 (4)

Thanks for the correction - that means the Minnesota Orchestra board/administration was even more insane! [nt] - Chris from Lafayette 22:42:00 08/14/16 (3)

More like very hard-nosed bargaining. - rbolaw 07:49:03 08/15/16 (2)

Sure, I understand that - Chris from Lafayette 09:13:07 08/15/16 (1)

Sometimes the board simply closes the business. - rbolaw 10:00:44 08/15/16 (0)

RE: Sure didn't take Sibelius that long! nt - kitch29 19:26:06 08/14/16 (0)

"For the life of me, I CANNOT understand a criticism like this!" - Doktor Brahms 10:27:09 08/14/16 (6)

DB - I do understand where you're coming from - Chris from Lafayette 12:18:40 08/14/16 (4)

RE: DB - I do understand where you're coming from - pbarach 15:56:50 08/15/16 (2)

RE: DB - I do understand where you're coming from - ahendler 16:48:07 08/15/16 (0)

Interesting - Chris from Lafayette 16:36:49 08/15/16 (0)

RE: DB - I do understand where you're coming from - Doktor Brahms 13:26:39 08/14/16 (0)

RE: "For the life of me, I CANNOT understand a criticism like this!" - rjan 11:36:50 08/14/16 (0)

Follow Ups

"For the life of me, I CANNOT understand a criticism like this!" - Doktor Brahms 10:27:09 08/14/16 (6)

DB - I do understand where you're coming from - Chris from Lafayette 12:18:40 08/14/16 (4)

RE: DB - I do understand where you're coming from - pbarach 15:56:50 08/15/16 (2)

RE: DB - I do understand where you're coming from - ahendler 16:48:07 08/15/16 (0)

Interesting - Chris from Lafayette 16:36:49 08/15/16 (0)

RE: DB - I do understand where you're coming from - Doktor Brahms 13:26:39 08/14/16 (0)

RE: "For the life of me, I CANNOT understand a criticism like this!" - rjan 11:36:50 08/14/16 (0)

"For the life of me, I CANNOT understand a criticism like this!"

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