Sibelius: Symphony No 2 (1940) Toscanini/NBC

Ignaz (Jean) Sibelius Symphony No. 2 in D Major, Op. 43 1. Allegretto (0:07) 2. Tempo andante, ma rubato (8:43) 3. Vivacissimo (20:46) 4. Finale, Allegro moderato (26:26) Arturo Toscanini, conductor NBC Symphony Orchestra Recorded Live on December 7, 1940 in Studio 8H, Radio City, New York After the success of Finlandia in 1901, Sibelius was sent by his friend the Baron Axel Carpelan to a villa near Rapallo, Italy. During this stay he began to sketch the 2nd Symphony. He completed it the following year, and it received its premier on March 8, 1902 by the Helsinki Orchestral Society with the composer conducting. The reaction of critics was mixed, but audiences took to it at once. Finding patriotic sentiment for Finnish independence in the fourth movement, some even referred to it as “The Symphony of Independence“. History does not tell us how Sibelius himself felt about such notions. He only described it as “A confession for the soul“.