About This Event

The young Finnish conductor Klaus Mäkelä, chief conductor of the Oslo Philharmonic, makes his BSO debut leading the Australian composer Brett Dean's 2018 virtuosic, characterful Cello Concerto, written for German cellist Alban Gerhardt. The program begins and ends with pieces by Mäkelä's compatriot Jean Sibelius. The familiar tone poem The Swan of Tuonela, featuring solo English horn, was inspired by the Kalevala, the Finnish epic that provided subject matter for many a Sibelius score. The sound-world of the composer's First Symphony was strongly influenced by Finnish folk music.