Sibelius: Symphonie Nr. 2, Finlandia, Karelia-Suite (Mariss Jansons) (CD, Br-Klassik)

The present album by BR Klassik brings together the best-known and most popular pieces of music by the great Finnish composer Jean Sibelius (18651957) on a CD in exemplary interpretations by the Bavarian Radio Symphony Orchestra under the direction of its former chief conductor Mariss Jansons, who died in 2019. The music of the symphonic poem Finlandia op. 26 was created in 1899 as background music for a performance of historical images from Finnish history and mythology in Helsinki. She immediately delighted Sibelius compatriots with impressive melodies, an engaging orchestration and, above all, with her final chorale, to which patriotic verses were written, which made Finlandia the secret national anthem of Finland, so to speak. When Sibelius presented his composition in 1900 during the Paris World Exhibition, it made its mark internationally. The world-famous piece of music is still understood in Finland as a patriotic-emotional hymn to this day. Karelia music had originated on a similar occasion in 1893, a few years earlier. It refers to the Finnish landscape of Karelia and the legends of the Kalevala epic, which at that time helped to emphasize the national independence of Finland in relation to the aggressive Russian and Swedish influence. The first performance of the living historical pictures set to music by Sibelius was received almost euphorically; Soon those four numbers emerged from the more extensive work that were later published: the three movements of the Karelia Suite op.11 and the Karelia Overture op.10.