Oramo conducts Sibelius

Prepare to be transported. High above the Indian ocean, a dragonfly catches the monsoon breeze, and soars between continents. Carl Nielsen boards ship for a windswept journey to the Faroes, all without leaving his Copenhagen home. And Jean Sibelius writes music “with the scent of the first snow” in a pair of monumental late symphonies.

That dragonfly is called a “globe skimmer” and in Tebogo Monnakgotla’s fabulous new violin concerto it’s played by former BBC New Generation Artist Johan Dalene. “I was amazed by this young player who radiated musical curiosity, approaching the most experimental music with the same curiosity as with Nielsen or Sibelius” she says. For Sakari Oramo, meanwhile, Sibelius and Nielsen are the passions of a lifetime: music in which he always has something distinctive and fresh to say.