Esa-Pekka Salonen conducts Sibelius Four Legends from the Kelevala Opus 22 (1896)

This Four Legends from the Kelevala  is one of the most beautiful of Sibelius' compositions I have ever heard, and the audience concurred that with a Finnish conductor, we have been the recipients of new insights and nuances in the music .   The program:  Lemminkainen and the Maidens of the Island; Lemminkainen in Tuonele; The Swan of Tuonela; and Lemminkainen's Return. This 45 minute  long piece concluded the program.  In the first portion Salonen opened with the Icelandic composer, Anna Thorvaldsdottir, Metacosmos (2017) in its West Coast Premiere. The European premiere takes place in Berlin later this month.  Salonen  comments on the independence of Icelandic artists which is envied by everyone.  This 15 minute piece was followed by R. Strauss, "Also Sprach Zarathustra", Opus 30 (1896)(34 minutes)  which was a variant in terms of what Salonen did in evoking its meanings and tonality in his conducting...The title of a loose "interpretation " of Nietzsche's book, which recounts the musings of Zarathustra, the 6th c. (BCE) Persian religious teacher. As a recluse for ten years,  Zarathustra watches the sun rise and announces his decision to reenter society. Strauss said his intention was to "convey in music an idea of the evolution of the human race from its origin." Kubrick uses the music in  2001-A Space Oddysey.  

Astrid joined me for this concert and we enjoyed a champagne at intermission; she has read the Kalevala....Salonen conducted this same concert program in New York in 2018.  .

I have the full Sibelius symphonies recorded by Herbert Blomstedt when he conducted the SF Symphony.  Yesterday, I listened to the complete set. 2006   

We listened to a musicologist interpret the music in a 30 minute lecture before the performance and then we listened to Salonen reflect on the performance in an Off the Podium talk with him, afterwards...he enjoys a rapport with the symphony and was very straightforward in his comments.