As R. W. Wood once put it, the Sixth Symphony (and Tapiola) are ''dazzling displays (if the word may be used) of a technique so personal and so assured that its very achievements were hidden in its mastery and in its entire synthesis with its subject matter''. And it is that unity of matter and manner, of content and form that make this work, and its companions, so remarkable. In the symphony form and substance are indivisible; the music evolution is seamless with each idea growing out of the preceding matter.
Jukka-Pekka Saraste's account is, I feel, the first disappointment in his cycle. He makes us feel this symphony is sectional: he drags the end of the first movement, ignoring the a tempo marking six bars before fig. L (track 1, 7'57'') and the second movement, too, fails to come off. It is neither Allegretto nor even moderato: it has hardly any sense of real movement. This is not a matter of statistics. In his eloquent account on Philips (part of a four-disc set) Sir Colin Davis takes 4'31''; Karajan varied in his three recordings from 5'16'' (1956—EMI mono (CD) CMS7 63464-2), 6'14'' (1968—reissued by DG in 1985) and 6'00'' (1980— (CD) CMS7 63321-2). This gifted young Finnish conductor takes 6'29'', but whereas Davis or the slowest Karajan feel right, Saraste's version seems interminable and directionless. In the finale, too, he loses tension (10 bars before fig. K: track 4, 5'35'') by not returning to the preceding tempo after the rit.
Of course, there are some good things—the spacious opening and a generally well judged Poco vivace (though even that could be borne along on a stronger current)—but generally speaking, this new version does not displace any of those listed above. Likewise I'm afraid that the Scenes historiques do not present a challenge to Jarvi (BIS/ Conifer) or Sir Alexander Gibson (Chandos), let alone the four items from these suites recorded by Beecham and reissued recently in harness with the Tempest music (EMI (CD) CDM7 63397-2, 7/90). No grumbles, however, about the excellent recording.'