One might not at first take the
New Zealand Symphony Orchestra as a natural
Sibelius orchestra. But under the direction of
Pietari Inkinen, the orchestra's young Finnish-born conductor, the New Zealand players turn in performances as ripe and lovely as the best ever recorded. For this 2006 disc,
Inkinen has chosen three less-known groups of works: both three-movement sets called Scènces historiques plus the five-movement suite extracted and adapted from his incidental music for King Christian II. Each department of the orchestra is superb -- the warm and expressive woodwinds, the lush strings, the brash brass, and the precise percussion -- and together they blend and balance in tuttis that have the richness of the English
Sibelius tradition coupled with the leanness of the Finnish
Sibelius tradition. But beyond that, their performances have the energy, passion, and determination of players trying to make their mark in this repertoire. And they do: under
Inkinen's masterful hands, these strong yet soulful recordings are in the same league as
Barbirolli and
Saraste. Recorded by
Tim Handley in Wellington Town Hall in Wellington in 2006, Naxos' digital sound is full, deep, and round.