This third of Sakari Oramo’s farewell Sibelius concert series with the Royal Stockholm Philharmonic Orchestra opened with Finlandia – curiously a very late addition to the programme, as if an obscure work had just been unearthed. It began here with a real snarl from the brass on their second bar forzando, suggesting Finnish resentment of their Russian oppressors and, more prosaically, that this was to be no routine performance. The hymn tune was simply and touchingly presented, as befits a prayerful moment and a tune with resonance far beyond the Baltic, frequently sung in the US on solemn occasions. The slightly coarser last section, cymbal bashing and all, made an enjoyably noisy conclusion.
Not much less familiar is the Sibelius Violin Concerto, its prominence initially secured by a jaw-dropping 1935 recording by Jascha Heifetz and Sir Thomas Beecham, and since 1965 by the five-yearly Sibelius Violin Competition (where it is a required work in the final round). It has thus had several great exponents in every generation, but Lisa Batiashvili need fear no comparisons. She first played it in that competition at the age of sixteen (she was runner-up) and the conductor was a young Sakari Oramo – who was then a leading violinist who had played the concerto himself. They have played it several times since together and recorded it. Co-ordination in rehearsal can be hard work in this piece, so that joint experience doubtless helped produce this superb account from soloist and the orchestra, which has an unusually rich and engaged role in this work. Batiashvili was splendid in her first movement cadenza, evocative in the Adagio di molto and even made the weird whistling harmonics in the finale sound utterly natural. Her tone was immaculate, with only a light vibrato.