Thomas Sondergard - Sibelius: Symphonies 2 & 7 - BBC Music Magazine

The best recordings in the large Sibelius catalogue set a formidable standard, and there will no doubt be plenty more to come in the composer's anniversary year. Thomas Søndergård has a deserved reputation as a fine conductor. The Second Symphony's opening movement here promises much, with Søndergård setting a brisk-ish main tempo (more than fair enough: Sibelius himself, insisting on this music's essential 'joyfulness', disliked the dirge-like pace at which it was often taken); there's also much deft and accurate detail, while the risk of bombast behind the heavier brass scoring is kept well at arm's length. 

While the shifts of pace within [the Seventh Symphony's] single-movement design are perhaps not as tricky to manage as received opinion has it, they're not so easy either, and Søndergård handles them very convincingly.