Deutsches Symphonie-Orchester Berlin, Tarmo Peltokoski & Martin Helmchen

‘I have rediscovered my old self, musically speaking’, Jean Sibelius wrote to his wife in 1894. After an opera project had fallen through, the composer realised that he was more of a tone painter, a poet. He gave free rein to this intuition in the evocative Lemminkäinen Suite. With the symphonic orchestra as a brush, Sibelius paints the experiences of a Don Juan-like character from the Finnish national epic Kalevala. This is music of the most atmospheric kind, steeped in symbolism.

The Deutsches Symphonie-Orchester Berlin, conducted by the Finnish wunderkind Tarmo Peltokoski, links Sibelius to the grande dame of Finnish music: the recently deceased Kaija Saariaho. Her Ciel d'hiver is the epitome of sensuality and splendour. Mendelssohn’s Piano Concerto No. 1 is equally radiant – here with the illustrious Martin Helmchen at the keyboard. 

Programme

Kaija Saariaho (1952-2023)

Ciel d’hiver

Felix Mendelssohn Bartholdy (1809-1847)

Piano Concerto No. 1 in G minor, Op. 25, MWV 07

Jean Sibelius (1865-1957)

Four Legends from the Kalevala (Lemminkäinen Suite), Op. 22

image © Peter Rigaud