SIBELIUS : Tone Poems (2007) Serie The Sibelius Edition – Vol.1 | 5CD BOX-SET | FLAC (tracks+.cue), lossless

68 discs in 13 thematic boxes containing all the music Jean Sibelius ever wrote, from the symphonies and tone poems to choral works, chamber music and the smallest piano piece.

“Sibelius’s known output over 80 hours and 30 minutes: an edition which gives voice to his music as surely as that music gave voice to a nation.” International Record Review
"Les treize volumes sont de ces entreprises qui honorent l'histoire du disque... Le soin éditorial est remarquable." Diapason
"A landmark in the composer's discography" Special Achievement Award in 2011 at the International Classical Music Awards (ICMA)
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SIBELIUS : Chamber Music I (2007) Serie The Sibelius Edition – Vol.2 | 6CD BOX-SET | FLAC (tracks+.cue), lossless

 Tracklist & Credits

SIBELIUS : Voice & Orchestra (2007) Serie The Sibelius Edition – Vol.3 | 6CD BOX-SET | FLAC (tracks+.cue), lossless

Following up the first two instalments of THE SIBELIUS EDITION, this third volume offers the complete music for voice and orchestra, including orchestral songs, cantatas, melodramas and the composer’s one opera – The Maiden in the Tower. Opening the programme is one of Sibelius’s greatest works, Kullervo. This is his first work of symphonic proportions, and was a huge success at its première in 1892, only to be withdrawn soon after by the young composer. Here, for the first time, Sibelius entered the mythological realm of Kalevala, Finland’s national epos, a world which he would return to on numerous occasions – for instance in works such as Luonnotar, A Song for Lemminkäinen and The Origin of Fire, all included in this collection. Another theme which runs through Sibelius’s output was the yearning for national independence, a yearning which was fulfilled in 1917. The Fool’s Song of the Spider, Sandels, Have You Courage? and The Captive Queen are only some of the included works with a more or less overt political message. As with the previous instalments, several of the works are given here in more than one version, mirroring the composer’s tendency to return to a score even after publication, as well as his willingness, in certain cases, to adapt a work to varying performance conditions. Also included are the composer’s earliest surviving attempts at writing for choir and orchestra: two chorales from his student years. Among the recordings, three have not been previously released, and one of these – the 1912 version of  Have You Courage? – is a world première. Assembled in chronological order, the remaining recordings have been collected from a number of earlier discs, released to great critical acclaim. To mention but a few, Osmo Vänskä’s Kullervo has been described as ‘a first-class account, dramatic and powerfully atmospheric’ in Gramophone while the performances of  the orchestral songs with Jorma Hynninnen and MariAnne Häggander supported by Gothenburg Symphony Orchestra received a Grand Prix du Disque at the time of their original release. BIS
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SIBELIUS : Piano Music I (2008) Serie The Sibelius Edition – Vol.4 | 5CD BOX-SET | FLAC (tracks+.cue), lossless

 Tracklist & Credits

SIBELIUS : Theatre Music (2008) Serie The Sibelius Edition – Vol.5 | 6CD BOX-SET | FLAC (tracks+.cue), lossless

Tracklist & Credits 

SIBELIUS : Violin & Piano (2008) Serie The Sibelius Edition – Vol.6 | 5CD BOX-SET | FLAC (tracks+.cue), lossless

The sixth volume in the BIS SIBELIUS EDITION focuses on the composer’s music for violin and piano (and also includes the few works for solo violin). The violin was in fact the composer’s way into music, and during his early youth his main ambition was to become a concert violinist. It is therefore not surprising that, throughout his life, he wrote a number of works for the instrument, including sonatas and suites as well as collections of shorter pieces and independent miniatures. More surprising is how little known Sibelius’s music for violin is – with the shining exception of the violin concerto, of course.

Lovers of that particular work will be pleased to find it included in this set, too, performed with the piano part that the composer himself prepared for publication. (It is a fact that Sibelius made piano transcriptions of many major orchestral works, in which the piano writing is often virtuosic and is clearly designed to be effective in performance.) Sibelius’s transcription of the definitive version is complemented here by the world première recording of a partially reconstructed version for violin and piano of the original 1903–04 score. This is only the second time the original version of the violin concerto has been recorded – the first recording being Leonidas Kavakos’ and Lahti Symphony Orchestra’s pioneering account of it on BIS-CD-500. On the present recording it is the Japanese violinist Madoka Sato (a 1995 prizewinner of the International Sibelius Violin Competition) who takes on the daunting task of performing the work with piano, with the formidable support of Sibelius expert Folke Gräsbeck.

Madoka Sato can also be heard in the other world première recordings included in this volume, while the remaining works are shared by two teams: Jaakko Kuusisto and Folke Gräsbeck concentrating on the youthful works, and Nils-Erik Sparf and Bengt Forsberg appearing mainly in the published pieces. Their performances were highly praised at the time of the release of the original discs, as shown by the following quotes: ‘The soloists, violinist Kuusisto and pianist Gräsbeck, display consummate expertise as partners as well as in their individual expressions’ (Classics Today.com) and ‘Sparf is highly sensitive and imaginative, and he and his accomplished partner make the most of the opportunities this repertoire provides’ (Gramophone). BIS
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SIBELIUS : Songs (2008) Serie The Sibelius Edition – Vol. 7 | 5CD BOX-SET | FLAC (tracks+.cue), lossless

Tracklist & Credits

SIBELIUS : Orchestral Works (2009) Serie The Sibelius Edition – Vol. 8 | 6CD BOX-SET | FLAC (tracks+.cue), lossless

Sibelius himself is reported to have said: ‘I am a man of the orchestra. You must judge me from my orchestral works.’ After the complete solo songs (Volume 7) and the works for violin and piano (Volume 6), the present instalment of the SIBELIUS EDITION returns us to the field in which the Finnish master has earned the greatest acclaim: that of orchestral music. As is demonstrated here, this ranges far beyond the famous symphonies and tone poems, however: apart from the perennially popular Violin Concerto, Sibelius wrote a number of suites, concert pieces, marches and scores for tableaux. Stylistically these works extend from the lightest of salon miniatures to heartfelt utterances of great profundity; their subjects range from the dance hall to the battlefield. From some of Sibelius’s best-known works (the Violin Concerto in Leonidas Kavakos’ award-winning recording; the Karelia Suite newly recorded by Osmo Vänskä) to rarities such as an early version of Rakastava never previously on disc, Volume 8 contributes seven hours worth of pieces to the fascinating puzzle that we know by the name of Jean Sibelius. Besides Kavakos, soloists include the violinists Dong-Suk Kang and Jaakko Kuusisto, Marko Ylönen (cello) and the baritone Raimo Laukka. The lion’s share of the programme is performed by the Lahti Symphony Orchestra under Osmo Vänskä, with memorable appearances by Neeme Järvi conducting the Gothenburg Symphony Orchestra. BIS
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SIBELIUS : Chamber Music II (2009) Serie The Sibelius Edition – Vol. 9 | 5CD BOX-SET | FLAC (tracks+.cue), lossless

In spite of the fact that Sibelius’ chamber music is far less well-known than his orchestral works, it forms a large and important part of his production. In terms of numbers of discs it makes up a fourth of the complete recorded edition being brought out on BIS. Already released are the complete quartets and piano trios [BIS-CD-1903/05] and the works for violin and piano [BIS-CD-1915/17]; the present set focuses on his chamber music for other instrumental combinations and includes a number of world première recordings and previously unreleased material. A substantial chapter is the music for cello (solo and with piano accompaniment), much of which was written for Sibelius’ brother Christian. It is here performed by Torleif Thedéen, with the support of Folke Gräsbeck on the piano. There are also a number of duos and trios for strings, including the brief Vattendroppar (Water Drops) for violin and cello pizzicato, which is often claimed to be Sibelius’ earliest surviving composition, dated to around 1875. Another, more sizeable, rarity is the music to the play Ödlan (The Lizard), scored for string ensemble. Composed in 1909, half way between the Third and Fourth Symphonies, it was once described by Sibelius as ‘one of the most exquisite works that I have written’. This volume also includes Sibelius only work for viola and piano (‘Rondo in D minor’), as well as the world première recordings of two pieces for solo kantele, the traditional Finnish plucked-string instrument which appears in the Kalevala, the Finnish national epos that served as such an inspiration to Sibelius. Another group of works with a specifically Finnish background, are the pieces for ‘torviseitsikko’, a particular combination of seven brass instruments and percussion. These are here performed by members of the eminent German ensemble brasspartout. A varied programme then on this ninth instalment of the acclaimed Sibelius Edition, about which a reviewer in Fanfare has already predicted that it ‘will certainly be considered a landmark in the history of recording’. BIS
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SIBELIUS : Piano Music II (2010) Serie The Sibelius Edition – Vol. 10 | 5CD BOX-SET | FLAC (tracks+.cue), lossless

Jean Sibelius is known as a great symphonist but he was also a highly skilled and prolific miniaturist who produced short, often aphoristic pieces throughout his life. Although less well-known than his orchestral works, his output for the piano is extensive, and we can now present the second instalment of music for solo piano in the BIS Sibelius Edition. Its predecessor, released as Volume 4 of the edition, presented the piano music that Sibelius composed during his youth and in his national romantic period. The music on this second set was written between 1905 and 1931, and includes the Three Sonatinas, widely seen as some of Sibelius's finest piano works, as well as the five pieces from the composer's Op.75, commonly known as 'The Trees'. Among the several world première recordings in this collection we find an Adagio written for his wife Aino's birthday in 1931, Sibelius's last composition for piano - and his only one for piano four-hands. 'Rakkalle Ainolle' ('To My Beloved Aino') is a mysterious piece, almost devoid of melody as such, but with an astonishingly bold tonal language: might this have been the style of the composer's Eighth Symphony, by then approaching completion and later reportedly destroyed by the composer? Included are also a number of Sibelius' own transcriptions, mainly of music he had composed for stage performances of plays such as Pelléas et Mélisande. A special case in this category is the four minute long reworking for the piano of an original bell melody written in 1912 for Helsinki's newly built Kallio Church. Presenting these close to 6 hours of music is Folke Gräsbeck, who himself has searched the archives, comparing versions and looking for previously unknown pieces. His commitment to the music of Sibelius is close to legendary, and on the basis of the previous volume of piano music alone, his achievement has been described as 'nothing less than heroic' (American Record Guide). Another reviewer, in the magazine Pizzicato, has described his performances as 'both musically and technically impressive; fresh and lively, and with a marked feeling for the dramatic potential of each work.' BIS   Tracklist & Credits

SIBELIUS : Choral Music (2010) Serie The Sibelius Edition – Vol. 11 | 6CD BOX-SET | FLAC (tracks+.cue), lossless

Jean Sibelius' emergence as a composer coincided with the rapid development of choral singing in Finland, at a time when new choirs were being established all over the country. The importance of the genre may be measured by the fact that one of Sibelius's most deeply felt pieces for mixed choir, Män från slätten och havet (Men from Land and Sea), received its first performance by a choir of gargantuan proportions - around 1,300 singers - gathered at a festival in the city of Vaasa in 1912. Choral music also forms an important part of Sibelius' production: besides the present collection of more than 7 hours of music for choir a cappella and with piano or organ accompaniment, there are a large number of orchestral works involving choir. (These are included in volume 3, 'Voice and Orchestra', of this edition.) As a consequence of the division in Finland between Finnish- and Swedish-speakers, Sibelius set texts in both languages, and while a large majority of his solo songs use Swedish texts, in the choral music we find a much larger proportion of settings in Finnish - often, if far from always, of texts from Kalevala, the national epic poem, or its lyric counterpart Kanteletar. Like previous volumes in the SIBELIUS EDITION, the present collection includes not only the published works, but also unpublished pieces, revisions and early versions. Many of these are here recorded for the first time, such as the version with piano of the two choral movements of Kullervo and the reconstruction of the Cantata for the University Graduation Ceremonies of 1897. Other rarities, quite unexpected for those whose knowledge of Sibelius is mainly restricted to his symphonic output, are the two brief arrangements of 'Italian Folk Songs', and the collection of Chorales for mixed choir written during the student years in Helsinki and in Berlin. Performing this wealth of music are some of Finland's finest choirs, with the YL Male Voice Choir and Akademiska Sångföreningen sharing the pieces for male choir, with contributions from their Swedish colleagues in Orphei Drängar. The music for mixed choir is championed by the Dominante and the Jubilate choirs, while most of the piano accompaniments are signed Folke Gräsbeck, whose recordings of Sibelius' complete music for solo piano have just been released. BIS   Tracklist & Credits

SIBELIUS : Symphonies (2011) Serie The Sibelius Edition – Vol. 12 | 5CD BOX-SET | FLAC (tracks+.cue), lossless

The first chapter in the BIS Sibelius Edition contained some of the Finnish master’s most celebrated works, his Tone Poems. In the ten volumes that have been released after that, we have presented various less known aspects of Sibelius: the composer of chamber works and piano music, the miniaturist, even as the author of an opera. With the present instalment, the 12th and penultimate, we return to a genre for which he is particularly celebrated, namely the symphonic. The Seven Symphonies are undisputed treasures of 20th-century music which have fascinated great conductors and international audiences alike. They are here presented in performances by Osmo Vänskä, described in American Record Guide as ‘the Sibelius interpreter de nos jours’, and the eminent Lahti Symphony Orchestra, whose principal conductor he was for 20 years. The team’s recordings of the symphony cycle has been described as ‘towering head and shoulders over the competition’ in the French magazine Répertoire, and on the website Classical Source as being ‘almost universally recognised as the best of the digital age’. As these recordings now are given pride of place in the Sibelius Edition, they are complemented by alternative versions and fragments which provide a fascinating background to the final versions. The most substantial of these is the original version of Symphony No.5, available only in this recording, which upon its original release in 1996 not only received a Gramophone Award for its technical qualities but also was described by the same magazine’s reviewer as ‘one of the most important and above all interesting records to have appeared for many years.’ Also unique for BIS are the recordings of the remaining supplementary material, made under the supervision of the violinist and conductor Jaakko Kuusisto and released here for the first time. Besides a number of short fragments which illustrate the decision-making process of the composer’s creative mind in detail, it also includes preliminary versions of three complete movements: the scherzos from Symphonies Nos 1 and 4, and the second movement of Symphony No.3. In the accompanying booklet (numbering 128 pages), Sibelius expert Andrew Barnett guides us through this central chapter in Sibelius’ œuvre – an occasion not to be missed! BIS    Tracklist & Credits

SIBELIUS : Miscellaneous Works (2011) Serie The Sibelius Edition – Vol. 13 | 4CD BOX-SET | FLAC (tracks+.cue), lossless

The final volume of the BIS Sibelius Edition is released almost exactly four years after the launch of the project in 2007. A main point of interest in this particular instalment – Miscellaneous Works – is the Masonic Ritual Music, Op.113 – here recorded for the first time with the original texts. Sibelius had become a freemason in 1922, soon after the foundation of the first modern Finnish lodge after the Russian ban on freemasonry in 1809. The music – set for tenor, male-voice choir and organ –  was written in response to a request for ‘special, genuinely Finnish music for the lodge’, and for it Sibelius used Finnish texts, including translations from German, Swedish and Chinese. Although the main part of Op.113 was composed in 1927, Sibelius made additions and revisions over the years, and the present performance (which is based on the 1950 edition), thus includes two pieces from 1946 believed to be his last original compositions. Two of the movements in the Masonic Music are for solo organ, and Volume 13 also includes Sibelius remaining solo works for that instrument, such as the striking Surusoitto (‘Mournful Music’) which Sibelius wrote for the 1931 funeral of the painter Gallen-Kallela, a friend of long standing. There are also a number of fragments and sketches included here, for instance of a projected musical adaptation of H.C. Andersen’s tale The Little Mermaid for string quartet and recitation, and a set of brief piano pieces for children. Of particular interest is the more substantial orchestral fragment of a projected tone poem entitled Luonnotar. In 1906 Sibelius had a change of heart, and recomposed much of the material included in the fragment into a new piece, Pohjola’s Daughter. Rounding off the edition on Disc 3 of the four CDs included here is the composer himself, conducting his own Andante festivo in a recording made during a live radio broadcast in 1939. Also on that disc is a video file of the classic ‘Jean Sibelius at Home’ film based on documentary material filmed in 1927 and 1945. As an appendix, a fourth CD contains music by contemporaries, friends and pupils of Sibelius, including Ferruccio Busoni and Robert Kajanus. With this final instalment a separate booklet with the complete index to the recordings and works included in the entire edition is provided, as a key to the 80+ hours of music that form the lifework of Sibelius. BIS   Tracklist & Credits

SIBELIUS, KHACHATURIAN : Violin Concertos (Krivine, Khachatryan) (2003) FLAC (tracks+.cue), lossless

Jean Sibelius (1865-1957)    
1-3    Violin Concerto In D Minor Opus 47

Aram Khatchaturian (1859-1935)
4-6    Violin Concerto In D Minor 1940

Orchestra – Sinfonia Varsovia
Conductor – Emmanuel Krivine
Violin – Sergey Khachatryan

GRIEG • NIELSEN • SIBELIUS • STENHAMMAR : Violin Sonatas & Pieces (2016) FLAC (tracks+.cue), lossless

JEAN SIBELIUS : Historical Recordings and Rarities 1928-1948 (2015) 7xCD / MONO / FLAC (image+.cue), lossless

The years spanned by this seven-disc Warner Classics collection coincide with the peak years of Jean Sibelius' popularity. At that time, he was widely regarded in Western countries as the greatest living composer, though he had essentially stopped producing major works after the mid-1920s, when he wrote the Symphony No. 7 in C major, the incidental music to The Tempest, and Tapiola. This 2015 set marks the 150th anniversary of Sibelius' birth, and generously offers vintage recordings of his 7 Symphonies, the Violin Concerto, Finlandia, Pohjola's Daughter, Night Ride and Sunrise, The Oceanides, the String Quartet in D minor, "Voces intimae," songs, and other works. The selections were recorded by Sibelius' strongest advocates, such as conductors Robert Kajanus, Adrian Boult, Thomas Beecham, and Serge Koussevitzky, violinist Jascha Heifetz, the Budapest String Quartet, soprano Marian Anderson, pianist Gerald Moore, and many others. There is also the rare 1939 recording of Sibelius conducting his Andante festivo, probably his only extant recording. This is a collector's set, considering the historical importance of the recordings, though it may be less enjoyable for newcomers and other listeners because of its limited analog sound quality. by Blair Sanderson 

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JEAN SIBELIUS : Piano Works (Janne Mertanen) (2015) 5CD BOX-SET / FLAC (image+.cue), lossless

JEAN SIBELIUS - Complete Piano Transcriptions [Erik Tawaststjerna] Bis 1987 / 2CD

EAN SIBELIUS [1865-1957]
Complete Piano Transcriptions [Erik Tawststjerna]
Bis / 1987 / 2CD / vbr

O Púbis da Rosa