On all counts this is impressive. The playing of the Helsinki orchestra is very fine indeed and the recording rich and well detailed. Moreover, although the Fourth Symphony has been coupled with the Fifth by Sir Alexander Gibson and the Scottish National Orchestra (Chandos) and the Seventh with the First in a number of modern recordings, including Berglund's own (HMV ESD7095, 7/81), I cannot recall a previous issue of the present coupling. Obviously, to have these two great symphonies on the same disc, represents particularly good value for the collector.
As most readers will know, Paavo Berglund himself has recorded both symphonies before: indeed, this his third account of the Fourth Symphony, and it is legitimate to question the need for a newcomer. What is so special about his Sibelius readings to justify yet another recording? An earlier Finnish version made in the 1960s with the Helsinki Radio Orchestra and coupled with Sallinen's Mauermusik enjoyed brief currency in the UK catalogue (Decca SXL6431, 3/73—nla) while a later recording with the Bournemouth orchestra with The Bard as fill-up came in the late 1970s (HMV ASD3340, 6/77—nla) and is now available only as part of a complete set (HMV SLS5129, 10/78). I have never subscribed to the view that the Finnish approach to Sibelius's music has a particular authenticity and was always puzzled by the cult of Hannikainen in the 1960s. (Kajanus, needless to say, was an altogether different matter, and had special authority and enjoyed the composer's own imprimatur!) Nor can I say that I have always responded positively to Berglund's Sibelius even if I have respected its integrity and seriousness for he does not touch the vein of poetic feeling of a Beecham or a Colin Davis. Not to put too fine a point on it, his readings, though unmannered, well thought out and free from egotism, have struck me as somewhat literal and leaden—particularly the First and Second Symphonies, and in the lighter music wanting in charm.
Hence it is all the more pleasing to report that these are both performances of considerable stature. Indeed, the Seventh is arguably one of the finest now before the public: it has a real nobility and breadth, and has the full measure of all the shifting changes of mood and colour. Moreover, the Helsinki orchestra seem to have a total rapport with their conductor on this occasion. I much admire the fine pacing of the climaxes and the sheer power of the last at letter Y. Their Seventh is to be preferred to the Maazel at mid-price and has infinitely more tension (and is far better played) than the most recent account of it to come my way from Gibson on Chandos. The Helsinki strings have body and eloquence, and all departments of the orchestra acquit themselves well.
The Fourth is hardly less impressive and has a stark grandeur that resonates in the mind. Both of Berglund's earlier versions had a certain grim intensity but the slow movement of neither matches this in its brooding power and poetic feeling. Not the same kind of feeling, perhaps, that you find in Sir Colin Davis's record with the Boston Symphony (Philips 9500 143, 8/77—nla) now available only as part of the complete set (6709 011, 9/77) but no less vivid and intensely felt. It has a mystery that I think eludes him in the development of the first movement, whose opening is marvellous in his hands. There are one or two things worth noting: there is not a great deal of vivace in the second movement (allegro molto vivace) and Berglund is almost as measured as Karajan in his most recent version (HMV ASD3845, 9/78—nla), and he permits himself a moment of indulgence and lingers over bar 210. Ashkenazy (Decca) gets the tempo of this movement absolutely right—and he, too, is spectacularly well recorded! The finale is superb even if some collectors may find the closing bars insufficiently cold and bleak. The current catalogue lists five separate accounts of the Fourth Symphony and seven of its companion, none of them coupled together, and as I hope I have indicated, this new recording from Berglund must figure very high in the lists.'