Denis Fodor wrote about Sibelius' 7th symphony:

>You'll recall that it's really nothing but a stormy fragment of a
>symphony, taking in all about 20 minutes of playing time.  ...  But now,
>having heard Sibelius' 7th live for the first time, I'm inclined to doubt
>that the piece itself is crafted solidly enough to justify all the moxie
>that it affects.

Well, I thought that France was among the last countries where such
statements had been written or uttered (maybe fifteen years ago), but I
seem to have underestimated the persistent gap between Sibelius and some
German music-lovers...  May I ask in which sense Sibelius' 7th lacks
solidity? I have never ceased to be astonished and enthused by its formal
and emotional near-perfection (if this makes sense, but in some way it
does) since the very first time I heard it, and so I would very much like
to read what lies far beyond the boundaries of my imagination.

Thanh-Tam Le
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