Category Archives: News

Concert at the Finnish Ambassador’s Residence

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Fenella Humphreys (photo: © Ian Stark) / Sam Armstrong (photo: © Balazs Borocz/Pilvax Studio)
Fenella Humphreys (photo: © Ian Stark) / Sam Armstrong (photo: © Balazs Borocz/Pilvax Studio)

There will be an all-Sibelius concert at the Finnish Ambassador’s Residence in London on Wednesday 10th June 2015 at 6.30 pm, given by Fenella Humphreys, violin, Anton Kukkonen, cello, and Sam Armstrong, piano.

The theme of the concert is ‘Sibelius and Family’, and the event takes place on the composer’s 123rd wedding anniversary.

Aino and Jean Sibelius (photo: © Santeri Levas / Finnish Museum of Photography)
Aino and Jean Sibelius (photo: © Santeri Levas / Finnish Museum of Photography)

The programme will include works for violin and piano: the Four Pieces, Op. 78 (including the famous F major Romance), E major Sonatina and Four Pieces, Op. 115. Cello pieces will include Malinconia, and all three performers will come together to end the concert with La pompeuse Marche d’Asis. Expect also some intriguing rarities and several UK premières.

The concert is arranged by Sibelius One with the generous support and assistance of the Finnish Embassy in London.

Drinks and canapés will be served.

Tickets cost £12 (concessions and Sibelius One members: £8) and can be ordered from gm@sibeliusone.com
Tickets will be personalized so please include the names and postal address of all those who will attend.
Payment can be made to Sibelius One either
– by internet banking (sort code 54-10-27, account number 13655558)
– by cheque payable to Sibelius One (send to: 6 Chichester Drive West, Saltdean, Brighton BN2 8SH)
As payment reference please use your name and the word ‘tickets’.

The address of the Finnish Ambassador’s Residence is 14 Kensington Palace Gardens, London W8 4QP

 

 

Alternative Sibelius

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The Alternative Sibelius series was launched at en event hosted by the Finnish Ambassador, Pekka Huhtaniemi, at his London residence on Friday 13th March 2015. Musicians who performed included Viola Uotila (kantele), Lauri Porra (electric bass), Yona (vocals) and the Jani Pensola Houseband, with Erkki Korhonen, director of the Sibelius Birth Town Foundation .

The Alternative Sibelius events in both England and Finland provide new perspectives on the music of this loved composer in his 150th anniversary year. In addition to music itself, this concert series emphasizes the importance of audience development and cooperates with such distinguished organizations as LSO Discovery, the Lahti Symphony Orchestra and the Finnish Church in London.

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Erkki Korhonen presents the book ‘My Sibelius’ to Finnish Ambassador Pekka Huhtaniemi at the launch of the Alternative Sibelius series
For more information click here.

Source: ‘Alternative Sibelius’ information leaflet

Photo Exhibition at Helsinki Airport

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Finavia has opened a unique photography exhibition, ‘Sibelius & Images of Finland’ inspired by Sibelius 150th anniversary, at the airport art gallery.

The exhibition presents rare photographs of Sibelius at his home, Ainola, as well as the documentary film ‘Jean Sibelius at home’.

Ville Haapasaari, airport director, says that Finavia wanted to recognise the anniversary of the birth of the Finnish master composer in an impressive manner.  ‘For many international passengers, Helsinki Airport is the first and sometimes only point of contact with our country. The airport could even be called the calling card of Finland.  These kinds of exhibitions are a good way of highlighting Finnish culture and art to an international audience’, Haapasaari said  at the inauguration of the exhibition.

Unique photographs of Finland and Helsinki from 1920s up to 1960s
The exhibition at the airport presents the variety of the output and the significant life work of three Finnish artists: Heikki Aho, Björn Soldan and Claire Aho. Sibelius photos are part of a larger exhibition with different five themed exhibitions totalling 230 photos. In addition to the Sibelius exhibition, Aho and Soldan’s themed exhibitions ‘Views of Helsinki in the 1930s’ and vintage art photographs from Centre Pompidou’s ‘The light of the North’ collection are exhibited.

Claire Aho’s photos take the viewers to Helsinki in 1968, and the fashion, advertisement and magazine photos in the ‘Studio Works’ themed exhibition recall the nostalgic mood of the 1950s.

Aho and Soldan’s output has opened new perspectives on Finnish everyday life, history and the industrialisation of  society; they have affected the image we have of the modern Finland. Heikki Aho’s daughter Claire Aho started as a documentary film-maker in the late 1940s. Claire Aho is also a pioneer of Finnish colour photography.

‘Sibelius & Images of Finland’ will be open until the end of 2015. Admission is free 24/7 to all passengers departing or arriving via the gate area 32–38.

For additional information, please contact:
Finavia Corp, Media Desk tel. +358 20 7082002, comms@finavia.fi
The exhibition brochure can be downloaded at Finavia’s web-site:
Home page of Aho & Soldan
Home page of Claire Aho

Source: Finavia Press Release, 3.3.2015

JSW News

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The ground-breaking critical edition Jean Sibelius Werke published by Breitkopf & Härtel is continuing. Most recently published is the Violin Concerto, ed. by editor-in-chief Timo Virtanen. This volume contains the two versions of the famous concerto (SON 622, EUR 252.00).

Plans for 2015 are as follows:

In March 2015 a volume of selected piano pieces will appear, drawn from the Sibelius Piano Works, ed. by Kari Kilpeläinen and Anna Pulkkis (EB 8855, EUR 15.90).

In April 2015 a special volume will be issued: a full-colour facsimile reproduction of Luonnotar (score and piano-vocal reduction) – a composition which counts among the most modern works by Sibelius. The editor is Timo Virtanen (SON 626, EUR 79.00 – introduction price valid until 8th December, 2015!).

A new ‘Breitkopf Study Score’ will feature the long-neglected orchestral work Skogsrået (The Wood-Nymph) (PB 5564). This will be its first publication apart from the volume of the Complete Edition, ed. by Tuija Wicklund.

Further volumes of the Complete Edition are scheduled in 2015:
– Piano Works 4 (Works without opus numbers), ed. by Anna Pulkkis (SON 623)
– Works for Male Choir a cappella, ed. by Sakari Ylivuori (SON 624)
– Scènes historiques I, Op. 25 and II. Op. 66, ed. by Kari Kilpeläinen (SON 625).

Source: Breitkopf & Härtel

Sibelius Exhibition in Berlin

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Jean_sibelius 1913

To accompany the Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra’s concerts featuring the complete Sibelius symphonies and Violin Concerto, conducted by Sir Simon Rattle, an exhibition is taking place from 28th January until 9th February in the foyer of the Berlin Philharmonie. The exhibition, named JEAN SIBELIUS – die Musik, der Künstler, der Mensch (Jean Sibelius – the music, the artist, the man) has been prepared by the Finnland-Institut in Berlin.

Opening times: Mon– Fri, 15.00–18.00, Sat/Sun 11.00–14.00 and together with concerts in the Philharmonie

Source: Berliner Philharmoniker

Sibelius Medal for Sir Simon Rattle

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Sir Simon Rattle
Photo: © Monika Rittershaus / Pressestelle der Stiftung Berliner Philharmoniker / 2009070810025831. Licensed under CC BY-SA 3.0 via Wikimedia Commons

Congratulations to Sir Simon Rattle, who has been awarded the Sibelius Medal of the Sibelius Society of Finland.

The medal was presented by the Finnish Ambassador to Germany before a concert in the Berlin Philharmonie in which Sir Simon Rattle was conducting the Berlin Philharmonic orchestra in Sibelius’s Symphonies Nos 5, 6 and 7.

Rattle and the Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra will visit London in February 2015 to perform all seven Sibelius symphonies.

An extended interview featuring Sir Simon Rattle in conversation with the Finnish author and journalist Vesa Sirén can be viewed at the Helsingin Sanomat website: click here.

 

 

Bristol Sibelius Cycle Continues

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Saturday 24th January 2015 at 7.30 pm
St George’s Bristol

Sibelius
Symphony No. 3 in C major, Op. 52
Violin Concerto in D minor, Op. 47
Symphony No. 2 in D major, Op. 43

Bristol Classical Players
Tom Gauterin conductor
Jennifer Pike violin

The Bristol Classical Players’ Sibelius cycle at St George’s Bristol continues with the Third and Second Symphonies and Violin Concerto. For this concert the orchestra is joined by Jennifer Pike, former BBC Young Musician of the Year, whose recording of the concerto has met with huge acclaim.

Tickets and more information: click here.

The Sibelius Cycle continues on 15th March 2015…
Sibelius Symphonies Nos 4 & 5
Beethoven Piano Concerto No. 1 (Stephen Hough) – 15 Mar 2015

Member Discount: Backman Trio ‘Fantasia’ CD

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Fantasia_Back&FRONT_cover-wwwThe Backman Trio’s Fantasia CD is available at a special price to members of Sibelius One  until the end of 2015. Member price is £12.50 including postage and packaging.

Click here to take advantage of this offer.

The Backman Trio is a piano trio that was formed in 2009 and has performed extensively in Finland and the UK, including appearances at the Sibelius Museum in Turku and the Camerata Hall in Helsinki’s world renowned new Music Centre. The ensemble’s début CD Fantasia is the culmination of its work to promote Finnish and British music over the past four years.

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Praise for the Backman Trio:
‘Their playing is full of joy and they are making music with ease.’ – Wilhelm Kvist, HBL, Helsinki
‘The Backman Trio continuously conjured up new tonal nuances, harmonies of colour, characters of motif and rhythm…’ – Hannu-Ilari Lampila, Helsingin Sanomat

The Trio’s violinist Frida Backman, with the pianist Lynda Smith, is celebrating the 150th anniversary of Sibelius’s birth at a lunchtime violin and piano recital including Sibelius’s Rondino, Danse caractéristique, Tanz-Idylle and Humoresques Nos 2 & 4, plus music by Copland, at 12.45 pm on 30th January 2015 at Sarum College (Butterfield Chapel ), Salisbury. Booking enquiries: contact Alison Ogden aogden@sarum.ac.uk

On 5th May 2015 the Backman Trio is giving a lunchtime concert (1.05 pm) at the Fairfield Halls, Croydon, including Sibelius’s  ‘Korpo’ Trio and Debussy’s Trio in G minor. Tickets £5 (ShowCard £4.50)

www.backman-trio.com

A Return to Sibelius’s Honeymoon Landscapes

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Jean and Aino Sibelius spent their honeymoon in 1892 at Monola, near Lieksa in North Karelia. Most of the works heard on this new disc (published in January 2015) were composed around the time of their honeymoon and bear the imprint of the landscapes of Lake Pielinen and North Karelia.

The recording includes new arrangements of works including Finlandia and the Karelia Suite.

Part of the income from the recording will help to finance the renovation of the building in which Sibelius stayed at Monola, via the Lieksa-Pielisjärvi Society.

A launch concert for the recording will take place at the Järvenpää Hall at 4 pm on Sunday 18th January 2015.

Programme and performers:

1. Valse triste, Op. 44 No. 1
2. Souvenir, Op. 99 No. 3
3. Granen (The Spruce), Op. 75 No. 5
4. Impromptu, Op. 5 No. 5
5. Drömmen (The Dream), Op. 13 No. 5
6. Kullervon valitus (Kullervo’s Lament) from Op. 7
7. Kyssens hopp (The Kiss’s Hope), Op. 13 No. 2
8. Till Frigga (To Frigga), Op. 13 No. 6
9. Under strandens granar (Under the Fir-Trees), Op. 13 No. 1
10–12. Karelia Suite, Op. 11
13. Finlandia, Op. 26

Jussi Makkonen, cello [1–5, 10–13]
Nazig Azezian, piano [1–13]
Annastiina Tahkola, mezzo-soprano [7–9]
Esa Ruuttunen, baritone [6]
Susanna Mieskonen-Makkonen, violin [10–12]

Arrangements: Matti Makkonen

Music video: Sibelius: Impromptu, Op. 5 No. 5

Catalogue number: Charmi-01
To order the disc, click here.