Mats Norrman <[log in to unmask]> writes in response to my
criticism of Saraste:

>S:t Petersburg live -93.  How do you mean it is inferior to the others?
>Please describe.

I once had the Finlandia Label set and tossed it; I understand the RCA
Label is better.  Even so, Jon Lewis captures my impression of Saraste
as seeming balletic rather than symphonic.  But, these are symphonies,
not ballets, and consequently, when compared to the likes of Barbirolli
(esp.), Davis (both), Rattle, Bernstein, Berglund, Jansons, et alia,
Saraste's Sibelius comes across flat, undistinguished, and lifeless.
Saraste's Sibelius is more like Swan Lake than the Holberg Suites.

D. Stephen Heersink <[log in to unmask]>