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 [log in to unmask]