Bruch & Elgar

After his adventures, the «hero Lemminkäinen,/ Made from cares the fleetest racers,/ Sable racers from his sorrows,/ Reins he made from days of evil,/ From his sacred pains made saddles» and «quickly springing,/  Galloped he away from trouble»: This is the content of the fourth and last of the «Lemminkäinen Legends», in which Jean Sibelius, not quite 30 years old, tells the story of the legendary Finnish hero from the Kalevala epic – on the model of a Franz Liszt or Richard Strauss symphony. The compelling work of a young composer, and not one that is often heard in these climes. Reason enough for the Oxford-trained conductor Matthew Halls to place it before the Tonkunstler Orchestra. Another epic in its own right is the magnificent Symphony No. 1 by Hall’s countryman Edward Elgar, the typically atypical British composer and symbol of the era of Edward VII. From Finland to the United Kingdom – and between them Sweden: Born in Stockholm, the young violinist Daniel Lozakovich makes his Tonkunstler debut with a melody-packed virtuoso work: Max Bruch’s much-loved Violin Concerto in G minor.