NDR Elbphilharmonie Orchester / Johan Dalene / Jukka-Pekka Saraste

About This Artwork

SIBELIUS: TIMELESS ARTIST PORTRAIT "The Bard" Jean Sibelius called one of his many symphonic poems. You don't know what exactly the piece is about. Only that a wandering poet and singer is the focus, just as he appears in many legends of Nordic mythology. And this bard, of course, misses his instrument: the harp, which plays an important role in Sibelius' score. Probably Sibelius was simply about a timeless artist portrait - because aren't he and his performers basically all "bards"? One of them is his compatriot, the Finnish Jukka Pekka Saraste, who as conductor is one of the most sensitive Sibelius bards on the scene. He has impressively proved this to the NDR Elbphilharmonie Orchestra in performances of his symphonies. It is not possible without Sibelius, but this time the current head of the Helsinki Philharmonic Orchestra leaves it at the almost eight-minute opening piece and otherwise devotes himself to an absolute heavyweight of Russian romanticism: Piotr Tchaikovsky's highly emotional »Pathétique«. With passionate sounds, the composer unrolls before our ears a huge musical panorama of human sorrows, joys, sufferings and hopes in his last and probably most popular symphony. Until the possibly also autobiographical work sinks deeply into the depth at the end... Tchaikovsky's sixth has an emphatic ending - a category that Thomas Adès actually wants to avoid in his violin concerto "Concentric Paths". Because according to the title, the successful Briton in the composition in 2005 was about the idea of the aimless concentric circle around a center of center - and without beginning and end. Of course, this cannot be fully realized in the linear art form of music, but at least in this case the expressive middle movement is the longest and most important of the concert. With over 1,000 performances worldwide, it has long become a contemporary classic and fascinates the greatest vioinists of our time - including the Swedish-Norwegian overflyer Johan Dalene, who is said to have an extremely singing tone. Just a real "bard".

Location

Elbphilharmonie, Hamburg

Date experienced

Sunday, April 19, 2026