If sonic splendour were the sole criterion, Vladimir Ashkenazy’s Sibelius symphony cycle with the Philharmonia would win every prize ... Symphony No. 3 Symphony No. 6 Symphony No. 5 Symphony No. 7 ...

Recordings don’t capture the full dynamics that are at play in Sibelius’s music. The next piece was Beethoven’s Piano Concerto No. 5. After the gnarled and tangled Northland, Enlightenment ...