Neeme Järvi won first prize at an international conducting competition in Rome in 1971, leading to invitations worldwide.
Tapiola is virtually monothematic, with a two-bar string theme heard at the beginning intimately relating to all that follows for 18 minutes.
Sibelius's Tapiola, an essentially Nordic piece, was paradoxically written in Italy during his visit in early 1926.
Neeme Järvi, the conductor, was born in Tallinn, Estonia, in 1937 and studied at the Tallinn Music School and Leningrad State Conservatory.
In Tapiola, Sibelius avoids 'exotic' instruments, preferring to create new and often frightening sounds from normal orchestral instruments.
Neeme Järvi is currently engaged in recording projects of the complete orchestral music of Sibelius, Stenhammar, and Tubin for the BIS label.
Jean Sibelius often conducted the first performances of his major orchestral works and used rehearsals to make last-minute changes.
