About this concert
Klaus Mäkelä has a deep connection with Sibelius, who single-handedly put Finland on the classical music map with his utterly unique music, inevitably bearing witness to the country’s vast natural landscapes. At one time, Sibelius had wanted to become a violinist. Although that dream failed to materialise, it did result in a violin concerto that leaves no listener unmoved. The solo part is so perfectly crafted that it seems to speak directly to each of us as individuals. Lisa Batiashvili has been one of our most popular guest soloists for the last twenty-five years, and for good reason! Be there when she throws herself wholeheartedly into Sibelius’s enigmatic Violin Concerto.
We open the concert with one of Schumann’s best symphonic works, the Manfred Overture. After the interval, our chief conductor designate Klaus Mäkelä will be conducting Antonín Dvořák’s Symphony No. 7, a first-rate symphony brimming with dark drama in which the Bohemian master once more tips his hat to Johannes Brahms, who had done so much for him. Folk influences are few and far between here. The composer’s message in this work is a more universal one, aimed at the entire world. After an eventful emotional journey, a glorious light breaks through at the end.
After an eventful emotional journey, a glorious light breaks through at the end
