Category Archives: News

Fly Sibelius

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Photo: © James Turnbull

The airline Norwegian has added Jean Sibelius to its ‘tail fin heroes’ – major cultural figures who lend their identities to the airline’s planes – to quote Norwegian, ‘personalities who have pushed the boundaries, challenged the established and inspired others’.

The figures selected come from the worlds of art, architecture, literature, music, entertainment, philosopy, science and sport, or have been pioneers in other walks of life.

Sibelius joins figures such as the poet J.L. Runeberg and the writer and activist Minna Canth to represent Finland in the airline’s ‘hall of fame’.

Sibelius himself never flew in an aeroplane, but an interest in flight manifested itself in his lifelong love for migrating birds (The Swan of Tuonela, finale of the Fifth Symphony, etc.)

Norwegian flies to Helsinki from a wide range of destinations including London Gatwick, Amsterdam, Paris, Prague, Oslo, Copenhagen and Stockholm.

Click here to visit Norwegian’s website
or
Click here to visit the ‘Tail Fin Heroes’ page

 

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Magazine – July 2017

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Sibelius One’s July 2017 magazine is now being delivered to subscribers. Highlights of this issue include:

  • My name is Sibelius, Jean Sibelius  David Revilla Velasco
  • Aspects of Leopold Stokowski in Philadelphia  John Davis
  • ‘Now I’m off to the Kämp again’: Celebrating 130 years of Sibelius’s favourite watering hole  Andrew Barnett
  • Reputation and Art: Sibelius during the Great War Period  Guy Rickards 
  • Northern Exposure: The Symphonies of Sibelius (Part One)  Leon Chia

To subscribe to the magazine, make sure you select the ‘printed copies’ option when joining Sibelius One (just £5 for two issues).

If you would like to add the magazine to your existing subscription, or to purchase individual copies of this issue or back issues (£5 each plus postage – also available to non-members) please contact info@sibeliusone.com

Click here for a list of articles in all issues of the magazine to date.

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JSW Critical Edition – Music for String Orchestra

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Page 1 of the Scherzo from Op. 4, from the Sibelius collection of the National Library of Finland (HUL 0552)

The next release in the JSW Critical Edition is now imminent, and includes all the works by Sibelius for string orchestra. JSW is published by the National Library of Finland, the Sibelius Society of Finland and the publishing house Breitkopf & Härtel (Wiesbaden).

Jean Sibelius wrote eight works for string orchestra over a wide time span stretching from the early 1890s until 1939. Many of these are either arrangements of earlier compositions or were composed in conjunction with a piano version. In addition to strings, additional instruments are used in some pieces (timpani, triangle, flutes, harp).

This new volume contains three first publications: two versions of the Impromptus and the early version of Rakastava. During the editing process, some previously unknown source materials have  come to light. These include the score and parts from Andante festivo’s first performance (1939) in the YLE archive as well as another contemporary score with parts in the archive of Ylioppilaskunnan Soittajat. These new sources have significantly expanded the understanding of this work.

Edited by Pekka Helasvuo and Tuija Wicklund

Contents:
1. Scherzo (Presto – from Op. 4)
2. Impromptu, Op. 5 No. 5
3. Impromptu, Op. 5 Nos 5–6 (early version)
4. Impromptu, Op. 5 Nos 5–6 (revised version)
5. Rakastava, Op. 14 (early version)
6. Rakastava, Op. 14 (revised version)
7. Romance in C, Op. 42
8. Suite mignonne, Op. 98a
9. Suite champêtre, Op. 98b
10. Suite caractéristique, Op. 100
11. Andante festivo, JS 34b

Click here for more information or to order: Breitkopf & Härtel SON 629
ISMN: 979-0-004-80343-1
National Library of Finland web link: click here

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The Forests of Aulanko

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The Arensky Chamber Orchestra presents ‘The Forests of Aulanko’ – a classical concert with a twist, featuring Sibelius’s Symphony No. 5.

The Hospital Club, 24 Endell Street, London WC2H 9HQ   |   8.00pm   |   24 June 2017

Sibelius: The Swan of Tuonela
Alex Woolf: Aulanko Responses
Sibelius: Symphony No. 5

Arensky Chamber Orchestra – William Kunhardt, artistic director/principal conductor

Aulanko follows the orchestra’s 2016 sell-out performance of Sibelius’s Seventh Symphony ‘in miniature’, a concert the Guardian said ‘made you feel like you were at the centre of an arctic gale with frost on your chin!’  It also features Sibelius’s Swan of Tuonela as well as a world première – Aulanko Responses, by 2012 BBC Young Composer of the Year, Alex Woolf. Aulanko Responses weaves music and poetry readings together, painting the forests landscapes of Sibelius’s homeland in sound.

The experience will include food and drink inspired by the Symphony and a ‘live programme note’ filled with stories about Sibelius and his masterpiece, delivered by the musicians from the stage. The event will be set in the Hospital Club’s penthouse cabaret salon, The Oak Room, giving the public one-night-only access to this exclusive members club.

The Arensky Chamber Orchestra is Britain’s orchestra of revolutionaries. Extraordinary classical musicians dedicated to electrifying performance and mind-opening presentation.

Exclusive ticket offer: £12, including a surprise cocktail
Discount tickets available here
*** Please note these are strictly limited and first come, first served. If these tickets are sold out, full price tickets are available here ***
More information: click here.
Further performances:
28 June at 7.30 pm – The Birley Centre, Eastbourne – click here for more info and tickets
6 July at 8 pm – Building 41, Royal Arsenal, Woolwich, London SE18 6ST (part of the Greenwich and Docklands Festival) – click here for more info and tickets

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Sibelius Festival Golfo del Tigullio e Riviera – autumn 2017

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The final schedule has been announced for the third Sibelius Festival Golfo del Tigullio e Riviera, Italy, taking place in September/October 2017. The Festival comprises an ambitious programme of lectures and concerts organized under the artistic direction of  composer Federico Ermirio.

Friday 22 September, 5pm
Santa Margherita Ligure / Sala ‘Spazio Aperto’
Sibelius e il Golfo del Tigullio: Soggiorno e ispirazione (in Italian)
Federico Ermirio, composer & artistic director

Friday 29 September, 9pm
Santa Margherita Ligure / Villa Durazzo
Inauguration Concert: Grieg, Sibelius, Ermirio, Rautavaara
Folke Gräsbeck, piano (artist in residence)

Saturday, September 30th 9pm
Sori / Oratorio di Sant’Erasmo
Soprano Recital: Grieg, Sibelius, Catalani, Puccini
Daria Masiero, soprano / Gisella Dapueto, piano

Sunday 1 October, 3.30pm
Recco / San Giovanni Battista Church
Grieg, Sibelius, Holst, De Haan, Elgar, Tchaikovsky
Filarmonica ‘Gioacchino Rossini’ wind orchestra

Friday 6 October, 5pm
Santa Margherita Ligure / Sala ‘Spazio Aperto’
Luci, colori e suoni (in Italian)
Simon Falvo, editor

Friday 6 October, 9pm
Santa Margherita Ligure / Villa Durazzo
Piano Quintets: Ermirio, Berg, Sibelius
New Helsinki Quartet; Folke Gräsbeck, piano

Saturday 7 October, 9pm
Zoagli /San Martino Church
String Quartets [1]: Berg, Kokkonen, Sibelius
New Helsinki Quartet

Sunday 8 October, 9pm
Recco / Oratorio di San Martino
String Quartets [2]: Sibelius, Webern, Kaipainen, Beethoven
New Helsinki Quartet

Friday 13 October, 5pm
Santa Margherita Ligure / Sala ‘Spazio Aperto’
Il cinema finlandese prima di Kaurismäki (in Italian)
Hilla Okkonen (Finnish Embassy, Rome)

Friday 13 October, 9pm
Santa Margherita Ligure / Villa Durazzo
Piano Recital: Prokofiev, Nielsen, Sibelius
Andrea Carcano, piano

Saturday 14 October, 5pm
Santa Margherita Ligure / Sala Consiliare del Comune
Sotto la stella polare: cento anni di indipendenza (in Italian)
Ferruccio Tammaro, critic
Hilla Okkonen (Finnish Embassy, Rome)
with the participation of Janne Taalas, Finnish Ambassador in Rome

Saturday 14 October, 9pm
Santa Margherita Ligure / San Siro Church
Symphonic Concert: Barber, Sibelius
Orchestra Sinfonica del Conservatorio ‘Giacomo Puccini’ di La Spezia
Giovanni Di Stefano, conductor

Sunday 15 October, 6pm
Bogliasco / Sala ‘Piero Bozzo’
Viola Recital: Sibelius, Bax, Brahms
Kate Hamilton, viola
Andrea Carcano, piano

Click here to visit the Festival’s website.

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Complete BIS Sibelius Box in Japan

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A limited-edition complete boxed set of the BIS Sibelius Edition has been issued by King International in Japan.

The set includes all 69 original CDs plus a bonus disc of items that have come to light since the thirteenth and final volume of the Edition was issued in 2011 (these newer recordings are available internationally on BIS-2065 and BIS-2132).

The discs are accompanied by a large book (over 400 pages) including track listings, notes, artist biographies and song texts with Japanese translations.

The set can be ordered online – click here for the order page (in Japanese).

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New Piano Transcription of Symphony No. 2

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Michael Grant has made a new solo piano transcription of Sibelius’s Symphony No. 2.

This new 59-page transcription features the entire symphony, complete and unabridged. It has been painstakingly prepared from the orchestral score, with great care being taken to adapt it to the unique medium of the keyboard. The result is an arrangement that remains faithful to the original whilst being idiomatically suited to the piano.

Key features of this edition:
— All 1254 bars of the symphony, faithfully transcribed for solo piano.
— This arrangement has been prepared with practicality in mind, resulting in an edition that is playable for advanced hobbyists as well as established virtuosi.
— Tempo indications, marks of expression and rehearsal letters have all been preserved from the orchestral score.
— Comprehensive bar numbers (at the start of every line) provide an invaluable reference for study and analysis.
— An in-depth introduction and commentary, written by the arranger, details the historical background of the symphony along with notable features of the music.

Michael Grant writes: ‘To the best of my knowledge this is the first time this symphony has been commercially available in such a format, and I have deliberately tried to make it playable for the intermediate/advanced pianist (whereas piano transcriptions are often only suited to virtuosos).’

Michael Grant is a highly accomplished woodwind musician based in London. He is proficient in a wide range of musical styles, participating regularly in a mixture of orchestral concerts, jazz performances and musical theatre shows. He has performed in some of the most iconic venues across the UK and Europe, including London’s Adelphi Theatre and Theatre Royal Drury Lane, Brussels Cathedral, and the Kaiser Wilhelm Memorial Church in Berlin. In addition, he has performed with such esteemed artists as Richard Dickins, Tom Deering and Sir Thomas Allen.

The transcription is available via Michael Grant’s website
(www.michaelgrantmusician.com/shop)

Details:
Instrumentation: Solo piano
Length: 59 pages
Duration: 45 minutes
Difficulty: Intermediate/Advanced
SPECIAL INTRODUCTORY PRICE (for orders placed before midnight on 31 May 2017): £8 (+£2 P&P) [regular price will be £15 + P&P]

Jean Sibelius and his Muses

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Kathleen Roland-Silverstein and Mimmi Fulmer will present a lecture recital at the International Congress of Voice Teachers in Stockholm on 4 August 2017 at 11.15 am.

Jean Sibelius and his Muses: Songs inspired by sopranos Ida Ekman and Aino Ackté

Two women inspired Jean Sibelius to write most of his over 100 songs. In this retrospective of sopranos Ida Ekman and Aino Ackte, the presenters will offer a lecture recital examining the differing voices and temperaments of the two, their relationships with the composer, and a performance of some of the most important songs created for them.

Soprano Kathleen Roland-Silverstein is a Fulbright scholar, author of a Swedish song anthology, music reviewer for the Journal of Singing, and a member of the faculty at Syracuse University.

Mimmi Fulmer is the editor of Midnight Sun, an anthology of Nordic songs, and author of a book about Vision and Prayer. She is professor of voice and opera at the University of Wisconsin-Madison.

Pianist Russell Miller is professor of vocal coaching and repertoire at Eastman School of Music. He has performed internationally, notably with Kathleen Roland-Silverstein, Julia Broxholm and Jan Opalach.

Conference website: click here.

Sibelius at the 2017 Proms

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Sibelius’s music will be featured at six of the BBC Prom concerts in 2017. All of these concerts will take place at the Royal Albert Hall in London.

The concerts are as follows. Click on the links for further information and booking:

Saturday 15 July – Prom 2
Sibelius: Violin Concerto
Elgar: Symphony No. 1
Lisa Batiashvili, violin; Staatskapelle Berlin / Daniel Barenboim

Monday 17 July  – Prom 5
Sibelius: Symphony No. 7
Rachmaninov: Piano Concerto No. 2
Shostakovich: Symphony No. 10
Behzod Abduraimov, piano; BBC National Orchestra of Wales  / Thomas Søndergård

Tuesday 18 July – Prom 6
Shostakovich: October; Violin Concerto No. 1
Sibelius: Symphony No. 2
Nicola Benedetti, violin; BBC National Orchestra of Wales / Thomas Søndergård

Thursday 10 August – Prom 33
Sibelius: Karelia Suite; Luonnotar
Grieg: Peer Gynt, excerpts
Schumann: Cello Concerto
Hindemith: Symphony ‘Mathis der Maler’
Lise Davidsen, soprano; Alban Gerhardt, cello; BBC Philharmonic / John Storgårds

Tuesday 22 August – Prom 51
Sibelius: Scènes historiques – Suite No. 1
Saint-Saëns: Piano Concerto No. 2 in G minor
Elgar/Payne: Symphony No. 3
Javier Perianes, piano; BBC Symphony Orchestra / Sakari Oramo

Saturday 9 September – Prom 75 (Last Night)
Wennäkoski: Flounce
Kodály: Budavári Te Deum
Sargent: An Impression on a Windy Day
Sibelius: Finlandia (with choir participation)
Wagner: Tristan and Isolde – Prelude and Liebestod
Adams: Lola Montez Does the Spider Dance
arr. Wood: Fantasia on British Sea-Songs
Arne, arr. Sargent: Rule, Britannia!
Elgar: Pomp and Circumstance March No. 1
Parry, orch. Elgar: Jerusalem
The National Anthem
Soloists; BBC Singers; BBC Symphony Chorus; BBC Symphony Orchestra / Sakari Oramo