Decca Classics presents Finnish conductor Klaus Mäkelä’s debut album, a complete cycle of Jean Sibelius’s Symphonies, plus the tone poem Tapiola and three late fragments. Mäkelä directs the Oslo Philharmonic, an orchestra with a deep, historic connection to the music of the Finnish composer. The Oslo Philharmonic has been performing the music of Sibelius for over 100 years, with the composer himself conducting three concerts of his music in 1921. Mäkelä taps into the orchestra’s rich tradition of interpreting Sibelius’s symphonic works in the century since. He refers to the “darkness, power, and strength” in the ensemble’s string playing, drawing a link with the Russian tradition instilled in the orchestra by former Chief Conductor Mariss Jansons.
Sibelius: Complete Symphonies – Oslo Philharmonic, Klaus Mäkelä
