There are three Toscanini accounts of Sibelius's Second Symphony one from an NBC broadcast of December 7th, 1940, which RCA issued some years ago (which I imagine they will reissue), an earlier broadcast from February 1939 (dell'Arte (CD) CDDA9019, 1/90), taken from acetates, and the present version which has not been issued before. As AS noted in his dell'Arte review, Toscanini brought ''extraordinary fire, passion and drama'' to this score though he hoped that ''Sibelians will not react too strongly against Toscanini's vehemence and the fierce cutting edge of his brass section''. He also lavished superlatives on the recent Toscanini Wagner/Debussy EMI disc ((CD) CDH7 63044-2, 3/90), which I must say, had me on the edge of my seat.
This 1938 performance, I have to add, did not. Admittedly it is more natural and less overdriven than either of the NBC accounts, but one is still all too conscious of Toscanini's anxiety to press ahead. The BBC Symphony Orchestra was obviously in first-class shape at this time (much more so than in the 1950s) and their response is generally very impressive, though by no means as electrifying as in some of Toscanini's other BBC recordings—nor is the sense of atmosphere as striking as in his remarkable NBC Pohjola's daughter (RCA—nla). To be frank, I don't think it is a match for either of Koussevitzky's recordings (1935—Pearl (CD) GEMMCDS9408, 7/90; 1950—RCA, nla) or the recently reissued 1954 BBC performance under Beecham, which is no less high-voltage indeed possibly more so—and also offers another symphony, the Dvorak G major (EMI (CD) CDM7 63399-2, 7/90).
The sound of this Toscanini is remarkably good for the period; slightly dry, perhaps, but far from unacceptable. There may have been good reasons for so doing, but the atmosphere has been unceremoniously and abruptly cut after the first and second movements, and even at the very end. The effect, I would say, is ugly.'