Lahti Symphony Orchestra: Sibelius Festival 2026 – Final Concert

EARLY BIRD DISCOUNT 10 % discount is valid 29.8.–29.9.2025.  

HANNU LINTU, conductor
OLGA HEIKKILÄ, soprano
MIHAILS ČULPAJEVS, tenor
GABRIEL KIVIVUORI-SERENO, baritone
DOMINANTE

Jean Sibelius: Bardi (1913)
Sergei Rachmaninov: The Bells (1913)
Jean Sibelius: Night Ride and Sunrise (1908)
Jean Sibelius: Symphony No. 4 (1911)

In 1908, Sibelius’s serious health problems were at their most acute, and a new period in his output began, in which he explored his inner voices. National romanticism was left behind and a cosmopolitan symphonist emerged. The Fourth Symphony contains music originally intended for The Raven, an orchestral song that was never completed based on a poem by Edgar Allan Poe. A text by the same poet is set in Sergei Rachmaninov’s expressionist choral fantasy The Bells.

4 pm Pre-concert Talk

ENCOUNTERS

SIBELIUS FESTIVAL 2025-2027
‘The originality of Jean Sibelius’s output can prevent us from noticing his connections with other composers and musical styles. We know that as a young man he admired Pyotr Tchaikovsky, Franz Liszt and Richard Wagner and that he was well aware of the stylistic turbulence of the early 20th century. His circle of friends included some of the most important international musicians of the era. The timelessness and contemporary approach of Sibelius’s late period inspired future composers. As part of the Sibelius Festival, we want to show what those connections mean in practice.

One festival is not enough; we need three.

I have considered it a special honour to plan the Sibelius Festival and have sought to keep the focus of the programme on the master composer’s output. The works by other composers have been selected according to the above considerations. I am grateful for this trust and look forward to magical encounters with Sibelius.’

Hannu Lintu, Artistic Director, Lahti Symphony Orchestra´s Sibelius Festival