From desolation to triumph: Mäkelä’s Vienna Sibelius cycle continues

Klaus Mäkelä

Klaus Mäkelä conducts the Oslo Philharmonic at the Wiener Konzerthaus

By Mark Pullinger, 23 May 2022

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“a gnarly, knotty work, bleak in tone, where light rarely penetrates”

Reviewed at Konzerthaus: Großer Saal, Vienna on 22 May 2022

Sibelius, Symphony no. 4 in A minor, Op.63

Sibelius, Symphony no. 2 in D major, Op.43

Sibelius, Finlandia, symphonic poem for orchestra, Op.26

Oslo Philharmonic

Klaus Mäkelä, Conductor

Virtuosity and volume: Oslo Phil plays Tchaikovsky and Shostakovich

Chanda VanderHart, 22nd January

Batiashvili’s account of the Tchaikovsky concerto confirms why she remains one of the most compelling violinists of her generation.

***11

Batiashvili, Mäkelä and the Oslo Philharmonic in Hamburg

Mengguang Huang, 18th January

A last-minute programme change doubles Batiashvili’s Tchaikovsky at the Elbphilharmonie, but repetition is transformed into fresh revelation.

****1

A high Klaus operation: Mäkelä and the Oslo Philharmonic

David Karlin, 23rd October

In their home concert hall under their Chief Conductor, the Oslo Philharmonic produce a high quality performance of Tchaikovsky's Fourth Symphony.

****1

Superstar performances from Yuja Wang and Klaus Mäkelä in Edinburgh

David Smythe, 22nd August

Yuja Wang plays both Ravel piano concertos with the Oslo Philharmonic Orchestra at the Edinburgh International Festival.

*****

Mäkelä leads his Oslo troops in a gripping Shostakovich 5

Mark Pullinger, 25th May

Leif Ove Andsnes joins the Oslo Philharmonic in dynamic Rachmaninov before high-energy Shostakovich closes the season.

****1

With a fine Oslo Philharmonic, Yuja Wang wows the Proms

David Karlin, 12th August

Yuja Wang lives up to her superstar status in Liszt and a couple of operatic encores, while the Oslo Philharmonic show icy clarity in Sibelius and orchestral colour aplenty in Strauss.

****1

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Mark Pullinger

Mark has been a Bachtrack editor since 2014. He is also an experienced critic, writing hundreds of reviews for the site, as well as a freelancer writing for other magazines and newspapers. He also writes programme notes and blogs on Substack. Mark has a particular passion for the operas of Verdi as well as Russian and French repertoire. Outside the concert hall and opera house, Mark enjoys cooking and travel and is probably at his happiest let loose in a French patisserie or a Viennese coffee house.

From desolation to triumph: Mäkelä’s Sibelius cycle continues in Vienna