Jukka-Pekka Saraste

In October of 1980, Jean Sibelius travelled to Vienna in hopes of becoming Anton Bruckner’s student. However, his plan failed. Suffering from serious illness, the professor was about to retire. Still, the young composer was strongly shaped by Bruckner’s works, which were performed in Vienna.

In Vienna, Sibelius also devoted a lot of his attention to the Finnish national epic Kalevala, especially to the tragic story of Kullervo, which shows parallels to the myth of Oedipus. Kullervo unknowingly seduces his long-lost sister. In 1892, Sibelius’ monumental composition successfully premiered in Helsinki. In the beginning, the piece with its Finnish folklore melodies was celebrated as “the first real Finnish music”. Soon after, however, it received bad press.

Sebastian Fagerlund 
Drifts for orchestra

Jean Sibelius 
Kullervo for Soprano and Baritone, men’s choir and orchestra, Op. 7

YL Male Voice Choir
Choirmaster: Pasi Hyökki

Prague Philharmonic Choir
Choirmaster: Lukáš Kozubík

Bregenzer Festspiele Choir
Choirmaster: Benjamin Lack

Wiener Symphoniker