Jukka-Pekka Saraste begins as the Artistic Director of the festival in 2008
The 9th International Sibelius Festival of the Lahti Symphony Orchestra will be held at the Sibelius Hall on 11-14 September 2008 with its new Artistic Director, conductor Jukka-Pekka Saraste.
The Lahti Symphony Orchestra´s 9th International Sibelius Festival
11th - 14th September
Lemminkäinen - Sibelius´s Hero
The Lahti Symphony Orchestra’s International Sibelius Festival has reached its ninth year, and over this time the festival has included a varied selection of the composer’s music, grouped by different themes. At the 2008 Sibelius Festival I should like to perform works in which, I believe, he interpreted the origins of Finnish music with splendour and originality. The festival’s theme is the legend of Lemminkäinen which, along with many other stories from the Kalevala, served as a major source of inspiration for Sibelius. Overall, the festival programme consists of works from
Sibelius’s first period, a period in the history of Finnish music that has always held a fascination for me personally.
On the programme of the festival’s opening concert on Thursday is a complete performance of the Karelia music in which the runic singers Heikki Laitinen and Taito Hoffren sing verses from the Kalevala, arising from the Urkraft of Finnish music. The festival programme also strongly reflects the rise of national sentiments in Finland and the fresh flowering of the country’s individual art as interpreted by a young composer.
As well as including three orchestral concerts, the Lahti Symphony Orchestra’s Sibelius Festival offers two chamber concerts and other Sibelius-themed events. I am looking forward very much to beginning a collaboration in Sibelius’s music with an orchestra that has done such extensive work with his music. I welcome you to share with us this great composer’s music at the Sibelius Hall.
Jukka-Pekka Saraste
artistic director
The Lahti Symphony Orchestra’s Sibelius Festival
Lahti Sibelius Festival Video
Thu 11.9.2008 at 7pm Sibelius Hall
Overture in E-major
En Saga
Karelia - complete score
Ville Rusanen, baritone
Heikki Laitinen and Taito Hoffrén, vocals
Fri 12.9.2008 at 7pm Sibelius Hall
King Christian II
Lemminkäinen Suite
Sat 13.9.2008 at 5pm Sibelius Hall
Snöfrid
The Captive Queen
Symphony No. 1
Finlandia
Lasse Pöysti, narrator
Dominante Choir
Murtosointu Choir
Chamber Music:
Sat 13.9. at 1pm Kalevi Aho –Hall,
Lahti Musioc Institute
Sibelius's Music for Piano
Eero Heinonen, piano
Sun 14.9. at 11am Sibelius Hall
Sibelius on a Sunday Morning - Sibelius's Songs
Helena Juntunen, soprano
Eveliina Kytömäki, piano
Harri Nousiainen, narrator
In collaboration with the Sibelius Hall
