Category Archives: News

Sibelius Première in Lahti

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Luukas Hiltunen outside the Sibelius Hall in Lahti. Photo: © Sibelius One

The world première performance of a new arrangement by Lahti music student Luukas Hiltunen of Sibelius’s Intrada for organ, Op. 111a (1925), was given as an encore on the last night of the 2018 Sibelius Festival in Lahti (8 September 2018).

This sonorous and well-received arrangement was scored for full symphony orchestra (without percussion), and is dedicated to its performers, the Lahti Symphony Orchestra and conductor Dima Slobodeniouk.

Luukas Hiltunen has also made an arrangement of the companion organ piece, Surusoitto (Funeral Music).

Further information will be published in the January 2019 issue of Sibelius One’s magazine.

New curator at Ainola

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Ainola (photo: © SIbelius One)

At a meeting on Saturday 8 September 2018, the Ainola Foundation decided to invite Julia Donner to become the new curator at Jean Sibelius’s home, Ainola. She will start work on Monday 8 October 2018. Her predecessor, Hanne Selkokari, will become an amanuensis at the Ateneum Art Museum in Helsinki, starting on 15 October 2018.

Julia Donner is an art historian who has specialized in garden art and landscape architecture. Since 2012 she has taught and undertaken research at the Aalto University; she has written many books and articles. With specific reference to Ainola she has written ‘Oi terve tarhurineito…’: Aino Sibeliuksen puutarha (2006) and contributed to the book Ainola – The Home of Jean and Aino Sibelius (ed. Esko Häkli & Severi Blomstedt; Suomalaisen Kirjallisuuden Seura 2015)

Ainola’s summer season ends on Sunday 30 September 2018.

Source: Ainola Foundation press release

 

Lahti Sibelius Festival 2018 ends

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Banner for the 2018 Festival in the Metsähalli, Sibelius Hall

Sibelius One’s visit to the 2018 Lahti Sibelius Festival has just ended (posted on 10 September 2018). All events were well attended and enthusiastically received.

Highlights included:

Wednesday 5 September: trip to Hämeenlinna; reception hosted by Erkki Korhonen and the Hämeenlinna Sibelius Society at the Town Hall; visit to the new Sibelius Forest national park.

Thursday 6 September: trip to Ainola; Sibelius One’s AGM in Hesan kamari at Ainola (minutes and accounts will be made available soon); concert by the Lahti SO/Dima Slobodeniouk with Baiba Skride, violin (Overture in A minor; Violin Concerto; Swanwhite); concert by the Wellamo Trio (‘Hafträsk’ Trio). Review of the concerts (Bachtrack): click here.

Members of Sibelius One at Ainola, 6 September 2018

Friday 7 September: concert by the Estonian National SO/Neeme Järvi (Romance in C; Scene with Cranes & Valse triste; Symphonies 3 & 4); reception hosted by the Sibelius Society of Finland at the Sibelius Hall in Lahti.

Saturday 8 September: concert by Meta4 string quartet (Voces intimae); concert by the Lahti SO/Dima Slobodeniouk with Baiba Skride, violin (In memoriam; Six Humoresques; Symphonies 6+7); world première [encore] performance of a new orchestration by Lahti music student Luukas Hiltunen of the Intrada, Op. 111a;  group meal at El Toro restaurant

Sunday 9 September: performance of the Five Piano Pieces (‘The Trees’), Op. 75 and of the Violin Concerto with additional choreography (Minna Pensola / Heini Kärkkäinen)

Provisional dates for the 2019 festival: 5–8 September. More details will be posted later.

Oskar Merikanto 150

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The 150th anniversary of Oskar Merikanto’s birth is on 5 August 2018. To mark the anniversary, we have published a new article by Andrew Barnett about Sibelius and Merikanto. This article will be available to all visitors to this site for a limited time, after which it will move to the Members area.

Click here to read the article.

Arts in Residence in Birmingham

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Carl Nielsen / Jean Sibelius

A course about Sibelius and Nielsen will be organized by Arts in Residence in Birmingham on 9–11 April 2019 (Tuesday–Thursday).

It will be based at Jurys Inn, Broad Street, Birmingham, and given by Terry Barfoot. Also included is a concert by the City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra under Michael Seal, featuring Sibelius’s Third and Nielsen’s Fifth Symphonies along with Mahler songs.

Terry Barfoot writes widely on music for Britain’s leading journals, orchestras,
festivals and record companies. He lectures at venues throughout the country, is
publications consultant to the Bournemouth Symphony Orchestra and the director of
Arts in Residence.

Click here for pdf details of this course.

Price: £295.00 per person (twin/double rooms), £320.00 (single rooms) to
include all meals, wine, course fees and accommodation.
Concert tickets are included.
Booking: Arts in Residence, 25, Mulberry Lane, Cosham, Portsmouth, PO6 2QU.
£50.00 per person deposit with booking. (Cheques payable to Arts in Residence.)
Enquiries: 02392 383356
Email: info@artsinresidence.co.uk
www.artsinresidence.co.uk

Sibelius’s Honeymoon Home Opens to the Public

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Jean and Aino Sibelius’s honeymoon home, the granary at Monola near Lieksa in North Karelia, opened to the public for the first time on Friday 29 June 2018. It will remain open every day (except Mondays) throughout July. Previously it was open by appointment only.

At Monola, Sibelius composed two Runeberg songs (Kyssens hopp and Till Frigga) and worked on the tone poem En saga.

Since 2016 the building has been undergoing renovation in a way that is respectful of its history. The walls and one doorway are exactly as they were in Sibelius’s time. The roof and steps have been replaced, and decaying fabrics inside the barn have been removed, as has overgrown vegetation from outside.

The project has been driven forward by the Monola Society (director: Elli Oinonen-Edén), and by the cellist Jussi Makkonen. A week-long programme of concerts and other cultural events was also organized (2–7 July) in conjunction with the opening of the granary.

More information on this important cultural venue will be published later.

Photos: © Sibelius One

Source: Lieksan lehti

Buy part of Sibelius’s Villa!

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An apartment is for sale in the historic 17th-century ‘Villa Molfino’ near Rapallo, Italy, where Sibelius rented a room / studio in the spring of 1901, gaining inspiration to compose from the extraordinary nature on the hills of the hinterland of the Gulf of Tigullio. The apartment that will be sold is located immediately under the rooms that were Sibelius’s accommodation.

The owner intends to leave the current furniture, made and chosen with particular taste and great elegance (see attached photos: antique furniture, original floors, painted ceilings etc.).

From Villa Molfino, which is located near the road to the Sanctuary of Montallegro, you may reach Rapallo in five minutes (less then 3 km.) with spectacular views. The apartment has been fully renovated and is 75 square metres in size, consisting of: double bedroom, living room, kitchen, bathroom and pantry, private garden (150 square metres), car port. Price: €249,000, negotiable.

Anyone seriously interested may write to Federico Ermirio (click here to e-mail), who will pass on the enquiry to the owner of the property.

Discography updated 22 June 2018

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The ongoing Sibelius discography project has received another update. To download the latest version (free) click here: Sibelius_Discography_20180622. For more information on the discography project and recent releases click here to visit our Discography & Recordings page.

Sibelius Festival Golfo del Tigullio e Riviera 2018 – update

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The fourth Sibelius Festival – Golfo del Tigullio e Riviera in Italy will run from 28 September until 14 October 2018. The programme of lectures and concerts is organized under the artistic direction of composer Federico Ermirio. Below is an updated list of dates and times for the events at the festival.

28 September, 6pm, Spazio Aperto, Santa Margherita
Speaker: Federico Ermirio

28 September, 9pm, Villa Durazzo, Santa Margherita
Opening concert – Myrsky Ensemble / Folke Gräsbeck, piano
Grieg / Sibelius / Mattson / Elgar

29 September, 9pm, Auditorium San Francesco, Chiavari
Folke Gräsbeck, piano
Sibelius / Merikanto / Nielsen / Alfvén / Leifs / Nystedt

30 September, 11.30am matinée, Grand Hotel Miramare, Santa Margherita
Folke Gräsbeck, piano
Sibelius / Busoni / Sinding

30 September, 9pm, San Martino Church, Zoagli
Myrsky Ensemble (string trio)
Ravel / Milhaud / Sibelius / von Dohnányi

5 October, 5pm, Spazio Aperto, Santa Margherita
Speaker: Paola De Ferrari
‘I Molfino: collezioni e dispersioni fra Settecento e Ottocento’

5 October, 9pm, Villa Durazzo, Santa Margherita
Eero Lasorla, tenor; Marina Cesarale, piano
Sibelius / Merikanto / Kuula / Gothoni / Alfvén / Rangström

6 October, 9pm, San Siro Church, Santa Margherita
Jugend-Sinfonieorchester Aargau; Hugo Bollschweiler, conductor
Mendelssohn / Szpilman / Sibelius

7 October, 11.30am matinée, Grand Hotel Miramare, Santa Margherita
Stefanie Braun, soprano; Anne Hinrichsen, piano
Sibelius / Grieg

7 October, 9pm, San Siro Church, Santa Margherita
Genova Vocal Ensemble; Roberta Paraninfo, conductor
Sibelius / Grieg / Rautavaara / Nystedt / Pärt / Sisask / Tormis

12 October, 9pm, Villa Durazzo, Santa Margherita
Peter Fisher, violin; Margaret Fingerhut, piano
Sibelius / Delius / Jenkins / Arnold / Elgar

13 October, 6pm, Teatrino Comunale, Portofino
Giovanni Giovannoni & Roberto Pellegrino, accordions
Sibelius /Kolz / Solotariov / Olkzak / Piazzolla

14 October, 6pm, Auditorium San Francesco, Chiavari
Peter Fisher, violin; Margaret Fingerhut, piano
Sibelius / Delius / Jenkins / Arnold / Elgar

E. & O.E.

Further information: www.sibeliusfestival.com

Sibelius Forest

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Lake Aulanko from Aulanko Tower
Photo: © Leo-setä (Creative Commons Attribution 2.0 Generic)

On 24 August 2018 the city of Hämeenlinna will inaugurate the ‘Sibelius Forest’, an approximately 100-hectare nature reserve east of the Lake Aulanko – the area seen from Aulanko observation tower. The forest is located in Hämeenlinna National Park, Finland’s first and the world’s second national urban park, established in January 2001.

The aim of the Sibelius Forest is that it will not significantly limit recreational use of the land (e.g. the Aulanko Hiking Trail) but will take better account of the objectives of the nature conservation area. The area has considerable indirect economic significance, contributing to tourism in Aulanko/Hämeenlinna.

The establishment of the Sibelius Forest Nature Reserve strengthens the position of Hämeenlinna as the ‘city of Sibelius’, protecting the nationally valuable landscape and natural environment, that inspired Sibelius to compose Finlandia.

The young Sibelius enjoyed the forest, often visited Aulanko and was familiar with the views. In the late 19th century, Aulankovuori Hill was a popular place for excursions, with a wooden lookout pavilion at the top of the hill; later, a 33-metre tall granite observation tower was built (Waldemar Aspelin, 1906–07).


Aulanko Observation Tower
Photo: © Alessio Damato 2006 (GNU Free Documentation License, Version 1.2 / Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 3.0 Unported)

The establishment of the Sibelius Forest is linked to Finland’s centenary celebrations in 2017.

Further information (in Finnish) click here.