Sibelius: Violin Concerto, The Bard, The Wood Nymph - Frank Peter Zimmermann, Helsinki Philharmonic Orchestra, John Storgårds

Jean Sibelius
Violin Concerto
The Bard
The Wood Nymph

Frank Peter Zimmermann, violin
Helsinki Philharmonic Orchestra
John Storgårds, conductor

Frank Peter Zimmermann offers a fresh and exciting view of the Violin Concerto (...) with swift tempos, and in particular a dazzling quick finale. (...) John Storgårds (...) conducts all of this music with unaffected mastery. (...) The engineering is generally excellent, particularly in the concerto (...).
David Hurwitz, ClassicsToday.com, August 2010

Marking his debut on Ondine, the German star violinist Frank Peter Zimmermann is featured here as soloist in the virtuoso Sibelius Violin Concerto, one of the most spectacular late Romantic works in its genre. Its dazzling finale has been described as an 'invocation' filled with 'demonic passion'.

Also, the Helsinki Philharmonic Orchestra under chief conductor John Storgårds performs two elusive tone poems by the same composer, The Bard and The Wood Nymph - works that were premiered by the same orchestra a century ago, conducted by Sibelius himself. The Wood Nymph is based on the ballad "Skogsrået" by Viktor Rydberg; a first sketch resulted in a play with music (for narrator, strings, two French horns, and piano). The present recording follows the orchestral version's recently published critical edition.

Jean Sibelius (1865-1957)
Violin Concerto in D Minor, Op. 47 (1905)30:23
1I. Allegro moderato15:09

2II. Adagio di molto8:17

3III. Allegro, ma non tanto6:57


4The Bard, Op. 64 (1914)8:08

5The Wood Nymph, Op. 15 (1895)24:05