If you want to hear this in action, look no further than Barbirolli conducting Sibelius (Barbirolli and the Hallé orchestra, The Sibelius Edition, EMI 7243 5 67299). The way the composer combines notes and short phrases drawn from right across the orchestra into a single musical stream is as testing for audio systems as it is for performers. All too often, the results can be halting or disjointed. Barbirolli is unmatched when it comes to instilling a coherent sense of tempo and continuity to these works, while his mastery of level and density generates the building sense of momentum and shattering dynamic contrasts that make this music so emotive. Barbirolli, the Hallé, the bi-amped Diptyques and the music of Sibelius is a recipe for audio and musical nirvana.
As an example, it’s awfully tempting to reach straight for the Second Symphony, with its successive climaxes and explosive finale. Don’t let me discourage you; the results are sensational. But before you do, try the Lemminkäinen Suite, specifically, the beautiful and deeply atmospheric ‘The Swan of Tuonela’ and the roistering. On ‘The Swan…’ the Diptyques effortlessly embody the poise, the grace, the continuity and overall coherence so essential to the inner beauty of the piece. The individual instrumental voices are distinct and contrast perfectly. The measured pace never falters or lags, there are no hesitations or disconnects in the sinuous musical progression. It is a performance that simply flows, evolving naturally, in its own time and space. There is at once both a fragile delicacy and powerful musical integrity to the performance.
In stark contrast, ‘Lemminkäinen’s Return’ is full of explosive dynamic interjections, pacey tempi and musical and dynamic contrasts tumbling over each other. Yet Barbirolli (and the Diptyques) never loses his musical grip. If ‘The Swan…’ is the perfect example of keeping forward motion despite a slow tempo, here you have the opposite, careful control of relative levels within the orchestra, the perfect timing of the stabbing brass fanfares, builds pace and momentum right through the piece. Like a bobsleigh without brakes, it simply seems to get faster and more unstoppable, right up to the final, inevitable, shattering climax.
The Suite is the perfect example of the Reference IIs’ ability to match and track the musical demands of the recording. Small and delicate, subtle and dignified, or big, brash and messy, the musical equivalent of a bar-fight, the Diptyques are equally at home, effortlessly meeting the recording’s spatial, temporal and dynamic demands – fully exploiting the performance’s expressive range along the way. With that knowledge and experience banked, now’s the time to dive headlong into the burgeoning swell of the Second, carried along on its surging orchestration and dynamic peaks, propelled by it’s musical momentum and emotional intensity. This is all about a single ‘instrument’ bent to a singular purpose, a powerful expression of the conductor’s and orchestra’s art. Just wait ’til you reach the Fourth Movement finale: suddenly all those qualities that you heard in the Lemminkäinen are combined to massive musical effect…
