Gothenburg has a strong musical tradition: Smetana was there in the 1860s and during his time as Chief Conductor of the orchestra, Stenhammar brought both Nielsen and Sibelius to the ''Goteborg Symfoniker''. The present issues are the first in an ambitious plan to record the complete orchestral works of Sibelius including his opera, The maiden in the tower of 1896 and will encompass no fewer than 25 discs. No one pretends that the Gothenburg Symphony Orchestra ranks alongside the great orchestras that have recorded the symphonies (the Boston Symphony, the Philharmonia, the Vienna and Berlin Philharmonic and so on) but heaven forbid that these works should be the sole preserve of the great virtuoso orchestras. The strings are clean, well focused in tone, lean and lithe; the wind are well blended and the clarinet solo at the beginning of the First Symphony is sensitively played, and there is an excellent sense of atmosphere. The first movement is finely shaped and the preparation for the return of the first group in the restatement is handled with impressive power. The slow movement is restrained and all the more effective on this count and the symphony as a whole is, one or two minor touches excepted, commendably straightforward (Neeme Jarvi is overemphatic one bar after fig. F in the last movement, for example). In any event it is better characterized and more imaginative than, say, the 1976 Bournemouth version under Paavo Berglund (HMV ESD7095, 7/81) though in the Fifth, the positions are reversed and the 1975 Berglund recording is to be preferred (HMV ESD7094, 2/81).
Neeme Jarvi is broad and spacious in the first movement: indeed he almost calls to mind the Tuxen account with the Danish Radio Orchestra (Decca mono LXT2744, 11/52—nla). There is insufficient sense of mystery in the development of the first movement and the middle movement is laboured. This record does, however, restore to circulation the Andante festivo (1922) and the Karelia Overture, Op. 10, neither of which is available in a modern recording at present. The Gothenburg strings bring a moving intensity to the former and Jarvi's account of the Overture holds its own with Gibson's, the last version to appear (CFP40273, 12/77—nla). The Gothenburg orchestra has the advantage of a superb acoustic which shows them to very best advantage; it has both warmth and clarity, and the quality of the recording is very fine indeed. It is excellently balanced and the surfaces are immaculate (one could be forgiven for thinking one was listening to a Compact Disc). Indeed in terms of sound, the account of the First Symphony more than holds its own with the Boston version (Philips 9500 140, 3/77) which is similarly coupled. The new performance gave me much pleasure though it would not displace the Karajan (HMV ASD4079, 9/82) or the Maazel at midprice (Decca JB42, 9/78) as first recommendations. At the same time it can hold its head high in the current catalogue and I would listen to it even in preference to the Kamu (DG 2535 457, 7/81). Except for those who must have the Andante festivo and the Karelia Overture, current recommendations of the Fifth Symphony remain undisturbed: the Philharmonia and Simon Rattle (HMV ASD4168, 4/82) and Karajan and the Berlin Philharmonic (DG 2542 109, 10/79). All the same, this gothenburg venture is bold and deserves support, and future issues, particularly of such works as The Tempest, Scaramouche and Everyman, will be eagerly awaited.'