Bengt Forsberg, the pianist on this recording, studied at the Gothenburg College of Music and is known for regularly playing unusual and unjustly neglected music.
Composer Biography
Jean Sibelius's international fame primarily rests upon his orchestral works, especially his seven mighty symphonies.
Composer's Artistic Vision
Sibelius's substantial output of smaller compositions, including his songs, places him among the foremost Nordic song composers.
Performer Biography
Anne Sofie von Otter, a mezzo-soprano, studied at the Stockholm College of Music and made her Covent Garden debut in 1985 in 'The Marriage of Figaro'.
Composition History
Many of Sibelius's songs are in Swedish, the language he first spoke as a child.
Notable Performances
The Finnish singer Ida Ekman, who premiered many Sibelius songs, sang 'Se'n har jag ej frigat mera' to Brahms in Vienna in 1895, prompting his famous remark: 'Something will become of him'.
Compositional Technique
Sibelius's only song in French, 'Les Trois Soeurs aveugles', derives from incidental music to Maeterlinck's 'Pellias et Mélisande' (1905).
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