Two highly competitive box-sets, though the Decca has the edge on its rival in terms of economy—three bargain CDs as opposed to four mid-price discs. In favour of the EMI is the good modern digital sound, although the Decca recordings, made between 1964 and 1969, were very much the state-of-the-art. I must say that they make an impressive showing even now, in spite of the fact the strings do not sound quite as opulent or the brass as refined as they did in the 1960s. In the uncommonly perceptive commentary in his discography The Symphonies of Jean Sibelius (Indiana University School of Music), Guy Thomas speaks of ''the gaunt, angular character of Maazel's readings'' and describes his Fourth memorably as ''a dramatic, genuinely uncompromising performance, still one of the baldest, craggiest peaks in the discography of this daunting symphony''.
The great successes of the Maazel cycle are the First, Fourth and Seventh; the latter struck me at the time as the most electrifying account since Koussevitzky's (Pearl, 7/90), though the sweet vibrato of the Viennese strings in the famous string threnody (14 bars before letter B) may strike some as a bit excessive. However, there is tremendous grip and integrity in these performances. The main weaknesses in the cycle are the Fifth and Sixth Symphonies with which, strangely enough, Maazel seems to make only intermittent contact. But the cycle as a whole is still an impressive achievement. Of course, Sir Alexander Gibson's with the Royal Scottish Orchestra for Chandos ((CD) CHAN6555/7, 10/91) also comes on three CDs and has the advantage of very impressive digital sound. The performances are impressive too, if not achieving the intensity or (in the case of Nos. 1, 4 and 7) quite the stature of Maazel's.
Simon Rattle's cycle is now accommodated on four mid- (as opposed to five full-) price CDs, losing among the fill-ups only Kennedy's well-played account of the Concerto. I do not prefer Rattle's account of the first two symphonies to Maazel's, though the first movement of No. 1 is impressive and its epic quality is splendidly conveyed. I was less taken with the slow movement: the rather mannered closing bars, not particularly acceptable in the concert-hall are distinctly worrying on disc. The measured tempo of the Scherzo is also a problem: it is slower than the metronome marking and the movement lacks fire. I would not play it in preference to Maazel, Ashkenazy (Decca, 5/86) or Karajan, let alone the new Jansons (both on EMI—7/91 and 1/92)! Rattle's account of The oceanides, however, remains the finest since Beecham (EMI, 7/90), though Saraste (RCA, 1/91), who uses tubular bells, runs it pretty close.
In the Second Symphony, Rattle's first movement is again on the slow side and the trio section of the scherzo is pulled about. Like Maazel, the Fourth and Seventh find him at his finest and the magnificent EMI recording is very richly detailed and well defined. Looking back I see I waxed lyrical, pouring much purple prose on the Fourth (''distils a powerful atmosphere in its opening pages... one is completely transported to its dark landscape with its seemingly limitless horizons'' and so on), but it is very good indeed. Only Beecham (recently transferred to CD by EMI and Koch—to be reviewed later) and Karajan (EMI) surpass him in the slow movement.
Rattle's version of the Sixth is still among the best around, though it does not have quite the tremendous grip or concentration of the Karajan (EMI, 7/91). In both the Third and the Fifth he is more impressive than Maazel, though I somewhat prefer the handling of the celebrated transition in the first movement of the Fifth in his 1982 Philharmonia version (EMI—nla). However, the inducement of The oceanides, Night ride and sunrise and an evocative account of the ''Scene with cranes'' from Kuolema might well tip the scales in Rattle's favour.
The best course may well be to settle for the Maazel set and duplicate the Fourth Symphony for the sake of Rattle's Sixth and also buy the last disc for a more idiomatic Fifth. It is time that Philips issued the Boston Symphony series with Sir Colin Davis (whose Third, Fourth and Sixth are performances of stature) at mid-price. In the meantime one can't go far wrong with either the Rattle or the Maazel sets.'