大象传媒

Last month the 大象传媒 Symphony Orchestra鈥檚 Total Immersion day "Sibelius the Storyteller" ventured into the literary and cultural hinterland of one of the 20th century鈥檚 great symphonists. No genius creates in a vacuum, and while Sibelius鈥檚 seven symphonies are landmarks of 20th-century orchestral music, they have deep roots. Today, over four concerts, we venture into the forests (both real and legendary) that nourished Sibelius鈥檚 imagination: the words, the landscapes, the colleagues and the traditions that formed the bedrock on which he built his distinctive musical vision.

In this third concert, "Stories, Quests and Secret Sagas", Sakari Oramo conducts the 大象传媒 Symphony Orchestra in four vivid musical mini-epics, accompanied by readings from stories that inspired them. On top of a rainbow beyond the northern edge of the world sits Pohjola鈥檚 daughter, her fingers weaving golden threads on a magic loom. Finnish mythology opened new worlds of creative possibility for Sibelius, but he was master of his own imagination, and the results are not always what you might expect. Heroic myths reveal their darker sides, poets weave quiet mysteries, and patriotic pageants suddenly break into irreverent laughter. Sakari Oramo understands this music like few living conductors, and the epic struggles of En Saga to the quiet enigma of The Bard acquire new dimensions when heard alongside the words that fired Sibelius鈥檚 imagination - read by 脫lafur Darri 脫lafsson.

Jean Sibelius
All鈥橭vertura' from Sc猫nes Historiques
En Saga
The Bard
Pohjola鈥檚 Daughter

大象传媒 Symphony Orchestra
Sakari Oramo conductor
脫lafur Darri 脫lafsson narrator

Recorded at the Barbican Concert Hall on 9 October.