Leopold Stokowski’s 1950 recording of Sibelius’s first symphony, played by his hand-picked, multi-miked band of New York virtuosi, was acclaimed by The Gramophone: 'What energy and vigour! … conceived with a long view of the work’s architecture.' Four years later, Stokowski recorded the second symphony, the American Record Guide writing: 'This is musical fire-and-ice of the very first order and it is a joy to find that so supremely gifted an interpreter as Stokowski still thinks enough of it to give it his very best.'