The Sibelius concerto is one of the most beautiful and one of the most romantic ever written for the violin. Karajan, who also recorded the symphonies 4-7 and some symphonic poems of the composer is particularly inspired when recording this disc. Orchestrals colors are superb and the Berlin Philharmonic in great shape. Some will find a lack of lightness of Christian Ferras, yet I think this vision gives the concerto a dark tone and the sound of his Stradivarius is particularly colorful.
Supplements prove the art of Karajan in conducting and in reading it symphonic poems. Yet they are overwhelmed in their vision compared to what we now mean by Vanska-BIS or other more northern readings of works.
The fact remains that this CD is a delight and it is a very good choice to discover this little known violinist. For me, the reference version is however Salonen for the concerto (in DG 2 versions, the first being the best in my opinion).
