This album was recorded at the Michael Fowler Centre in Wellington, New Zealand, with the Symphony No. 2 recorded in October 2008 and the Karelia Suite in July 2010.
Performer Biography
Pietari Inkinen, the conductor on this album, was appointed Music Director of the New Zealand Symphony Orchestra in 2008 and became Principal Guest Conductor of the Japan Philharmonic Orchestra in 2009.
Composer Biography
Jean Sibelius, the Finnish composer, was born in 1865 and came from a Swedish-speaking family, only learning Finnish at school.
Composition History
The Karelia Suite was derived from music Sibelius wrote in 1893 for a series of patriotic tableaux depicting the history of the Karelia region of Finland.
Performer Biography
The New Zealand Symphony Orchestra, founded in 1946, is the country's leading professional orchestra, performing over a hundred concerts annually.
Composition History
Sibelius's Symphony No. 2 began with sketches made in Italy, including a theme connected to the story of Don Juan and another inspired by Dante's Divina Commedia.
Composer Biography
Sibelius initially aimed to be a violinist but his compositional gifts outweighed his violin abilities.
