Sibelius – Symphony No. 1

Sibelius – Symphony No. 1

In 2013, the Finnish conductor Hannu Lintu was appointed principal conductor of the Finnish Radio Symphony Orchestra. Lintu studied piano and cello at the Sibelius Academy and the Turku conservatorium in Sweden’s southeast. He started conducting at the Sibelius Academy. His many concerts with the Finnish Radio Symphony Orchestra in 2012 made him the obvious replacement for Sakari Oramo, who, after many years as conductor and concert master, terminated his contract in 2012. The orchestra specializes in the performance of Finnish music, but also performs the great masterpieces of Gustav Mahler and Béla Bartók. The Finnish composer Jean Sibelius is the orchestra’s favourite, as well as the conductor's. In cooperation with Finland’s national public broadcasting company Yle, all seven Sibelius symphonies are recorded and broadcast. After a brief spoken introduction about the piece, the orchestra performs the complete symphony. Jean Sibelius completed his Symphony No. 1 in 1889. This piece solidified Sibelius’s great reputation in his home country. Finland had honoured him before with a limited but lifelong allowance, which was granted him after someone else had been given the post of director of the music faculty of the University of Helsinki. But after his Symphony No. 1, Sibelius’s fame spread across the borders. A number of his pieces was subsequently performed in Berlin, among which his famous Violin Concerto, with Richard Strauss conducting.