Performance on 3 - Minnesota Orchestra/Vanska

Presented by Petroc Trelawny Osmo Vänskä conducts the Minnesota Orchestra in Sibelius' Karelia Suite and Kullervo, based on a dark and bitter tale from the Finnish epic, the Kalevala. Sibelius wrote the Karelia Suite originally for a student association in the Karelian city of Viipuri for music to accompany a series of tableaux depicting important moments in Karelia's history. Karelia itself was one of one of the centres of Finnish nationalism and it was from Karelian folk sources that the tales of the Kalevala were gathered. Kullervo was the first of Sibelius' works to draw on that epic and he chose a dark and bitter tale. As a young man, Kullervo suffers the slaughter of his family and is trapped in a life of difficulty and poverty. One day he encounters a young woman in a sleigh and attempts to seduce her. Repeatedly rebuffed, he eventually ravishes her and only then discovers that she is his long lost sister. Overcome with guilt, Kullervo heads off to redeem himself. Sibelius: Suite from Karelia Sibelius: Kullervo Päivi Nisula, soprano Hannu Niemelä, baritone YL Male Voice Choir Minnesota Orchestra Osmo Vänskä, conductor Followed by a selection of Sibelius's smaller works.