Osmo Vänskä • Minnesota Orchestra “Beethoven: Symphonies Nos. 1 and 6, ‘Pastoral’” 2007, Qobuz 24/44.1
I first came across Osmo Vänskä when somebody recommended his Sibelius Symphony cycle a couple of years ago (I always find myself preferring Finnish conductors for Sibelius, apart from Karajan of course). Then I discovered him again by chance when preparing my 100 Greatest Classic Works thread, where his Beethoven 5th and 9th sailed up as worthy challengers to my benchmark interpretations. I am now working my way through the rest of this cycle and finding lots to like. Maybe one for the head more than the heart, but I’m finding it’s growing on me with every playing. The BIS engineers have captured the Minnesotans very nicely indeed.