Live, Video: Find classical music concert, opera, ballet and dance reviews | English | Barden (The Bard), symphonic poem for orchestra, Op.64

Sakari Oramo, Anu Komsi and Ólafur Darri Ólafsson take a deep dive into the world of Sibelius' tone poems in two concerts with the BBC Symphony Orchestra.

Anssi Karttunen  gracefully mastered the difficulties of Magnus Lindberg's score, marrying the serialist tendencies of his early opuses with more ear-pleasing tonal figments.

A great evening of Sibelius – shape, architecture and detail from Osmo Vänskä, excellent ensemble and solo work from the London Philharmonic Orchestra, and an impassioned performance of the Violin Concerto from Alexandra Soumm.

The BBC Philharmonic delivered superb performances in a fascinating programme under their Principal Guest Conductor John Storgårds, finding an unusual mix of wit and pathos at the Bridgewater Hall. The concert opened with Sibelius’s 1914 The Bard, one of the less frequently heard of the Fin’s tone poems.

Ilan Volkov, a regular guest conductor with the City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra, is a passionate advocate form contemporary and modern music. His programmes with his current orchestra, the Iceland Symphony, and his previous one, the BBC Scottish Symphony, often consist entirely of such works.

Mark Elder finished his part in the Hallé’s Beethoven cycle with a rambunctious performance of the seventh symphony, with works by Sibelius and Bartók adding to a dynamic evening of music.Before conducting Sibelius’ tone poem The Bard, Elder paid tribute to the late Paavo Berglund, the great Finnish conductor and champion of all things Sibelian, who died last month.