Northern Lights: Sibelius, Grieg and Nielsen

Osmo Vänskä, conductor
Alessio Bax, piano

SIBELIUS: Pojhola’s Daughter
GRIEG: Piano Concerto in A minor, Op. 16
NIELSEN: Symphony No. 5, Op. 50

Finnish maestro Osmo Vänskä returns to San Diego with a thrilling Nordic program featuring music by Sibelius, Grieg, and Nielsen – three towering voices of the North.

Sibelius’s tone poem Pohjola’s Daughter, inspired by the Finnish epic Kalevala, tells of a white bearded hero who glimpses the radiant daughter of the God of the North weaving gold on a rainbow. When she sets him impossible tasks, she vanishes into the sky, leaving him to journey alone through the frozen landscape. Sibelius translates this myth and the glow of the Northern Lights into orchestral poetry.

Grieg’s Piano Concerto in A minor remains one of the most beloved Romantic concertos – lyrical, exuberant, and steeped in Norwegian folk-dance rhythms. Its soaring melodies and dazzling piano writing have captivated audiences for over a century.

The program concludes with Nielsen’s Symphony No. 5, a gripping, two movement masterpiece written in the aftermath of World War I. Defiant and visionary, it contrasts serene lyricism with eruptive power, culminating in a blazing resolution in E flat Major. Its notorious snare drum battle still electrifies audiences, as chaos ultimately yields to radiant order – a breathtaking testament to human resilience and renewal.