Sir Alexander Gibson has recorded both symphonies before, though not coupled together. The First Symphony occupied the whole of one record (CFP40055, 1/74—nla) and the Seventh was coupled with the Third Symphony (Alpha SPHA3012, 1/66—nla). On the present issue the First is accommodated on one side without the finale spilling over on to the second, as was the case in the much underrated version by Carl Garaguly and the Dresden Philharmonic on Philips Festivo (SFM23000, 4/69—nla) made in the late 1960s, or Paavo Berglund's version on HMV listed above. This newcomer has the advantage of excellent recording from Chandos and continuity in the First. The only other digital accounts are Karajan on HMV and Neeme Jarvi and the Gothenburg Symphony Orchestra (BIS/Conifer) in the First Symphony, and Ashkenazy and the Philharmonia Orchestra in the Seventh (Decca).
The 37 minutes of the First Symphony sit comfortably on the one side: indeed, it sounds amazingly vivid in the circumstances. (My only grumble, technically, concerns an ugly edit in the first movement at letter S, where the pitch does not perfectly match.) Sir Alexander Gibson is a fine Sibelian and completely inside these scores but it has to be said that the SNO does not outclass its rivals listed above. The strings of the Gothenburg orchestra under Neeme Jarvi produce a cleaner, finer-grained quality than those of the Scottish orchestra even though they, too, are lean—no disadvantage in Sibelius. There are sensitive contributions from the woodwind (the opening clarinet theme from bar 17 onwards) and generally good intonation (albeit not impeccable, as in the slow movement at letter B). But generally speaking, there is both here and in the Seventh Symphony a want of real tension and power, and it is this as much as the orchestral response that robs this record of real distinction.'