Sibelius Festival #2

Two weeks, seven symphonies and Robert Trevino on the podium – these are the ingredients for this ambitious Sibelius Festival.

In reference to his Symphony No. 6, Sibelius said that it “always reminds me of the scent of the first snow”, and it certainly does have a crisp, transparent feel about it, which can probably be attributed to the bright sounds of the flutes and strings. It is followed by the composer’s Symphony No. 1, performed here for the second time during this festival week. The initial tones of the clarinet in the first movement evoke the same lonesome feeling as the main theme in Nino Rota’s legendary music for the Godfather films. The same motif then returns at the beginning of the fourth movement, but with a completely different feeling and level of intensity.