And although this application is still in development at the time of writing, it means the stakes are slightly higher for the first release of Sibelius not finished by the original team. Notice the new Timeline view docked to the bottom of the window.To make this transition even more interesting, Steinberg took the opportunity to recruit many of the original Sibelius development team to create a brand-new notation application. In response to user concerns, Avid Audio Vice President Martin Kloiber said the company wanted to “integrate Sibelius development more closely with the rest of Avid’s audio development teams in California”. However, a year later Avid closed the UK office where Sibelius was developed, causing a great deal of alarm at the time - not least because the then-current development team would not be a part of the company’s plans for the future. The release of Sibelius 7 in 2011 returned the program to its original nomenclature (from the early ‘90s when it ran only on Acorn’s RISC OS) and introduced a brand-new user interface. It would be fair to say that Sibelius has gone through quite a period of change since this magazine last reviewed version 6 in the December 2009 issue. Is this much-loved notation package still in safe hands? No Sibelian should miss it.The first new release of Sibelius in three years comes from the program’s relocated home in California. Here’s one that’s also an artistic document of real value. Music lovers are besieged today by historical recordings that are little more than that: historical. Given Beecham’s own advanced age at the time of these concerts, their generosity of spirit and enthusiasm are little short of astounding. In addition to the radio talk and the British and Finnish national anthems, Beecham also addresses the audience and encourages them to give a shout of congratulations to the 90-year-old composer, who was presumably listening to the broadcast of the concert, and he includes as an encore the “Dance of the Nymphs” from Sibelius’ music to The Tempest. At a bit more than 17 minutes, Beecham simply plays the whole work in one huge, implacable span. Tapiola, in particular, offers a veritable clinic in How It’s Possible to Play Sibelius Without Sacrificing Momentum for Atmosphere. The pastoral episode at the heart of the Seventh Symphony (recorded a year earlier) comes across with near ideal clarity, notwithstanding any limitations in the original sound source. He’s helped by some very enthusiastic playing from the Royal Philharmonic wind section. His flowing tempos in the Fourth Symphony’s outer movements may raise a few eyebrows today, but the momentum he generates in this most forbidding of symphonies is simply irresistible. In the two symphonies and Tapiola, Beecham is no less assured. Even the occasional eccentric tempo, such as the very slow “Entr’acte” from Pélleas, comes off as wholly convincing. He plays this music with such love, care, and sheer character, that its greatness becomes a non-issue.
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It’s probably safe to say that Beecham’s way with these shorter works may have been equaled subsequently, but it hasn’t been surpassed. His program was ideally chosen to make exactly this point, contrasting the Romantic warmth of Swanwhite and Pelléas et Mélisande with two of Sibelius’ most forbidding pieces: the Fourth Symphony and Tapiola.
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In the marvelous accompanying talk included with the recordings as a bonus, Beecham discusses his love of Sibelius’ smaller works, the incidental music in particular, where he discerns a more “human” side to the composer. Judging from the quality of the music making (preserved in perfectly clear mono), and notwithstanding the bronchial contributions of many members of the audience, it must have been one hell of an occasion. All of the performances on this disc except the Seventh Symphony come from Sir Thomas Beecham’s marathon 90th birthday tribute to Sibelius on December 8, 1955.