Described as ‘one of the great new Sibelian teams’ (The Herald), Thomas Søndergård and BBC National Orchestra of Wales continue their shared fascination with the orchestral music of Sibelius. Released one month after BBC NOW celebrated its ninetieth anniversary, this recording includes many of Sibelius’s most famous masterpieces. Sibelius established his credentials early on with the tonally adventurous En saga, which brings to mind the excellence of Berlioz’s orchestral writing.

Sibelius’s successful foray into the impressionistic tone world of Debussy resulted in the haunting seascape of The Oceanides. Sibelius wrote it was ‘pure inspiration’ that led to the composition of the perpetually popular Finlandia, with its world-famous hymn motif. The wonderfully descriptive Swan of Tuonela finds Sibelius at his mystical best as he casts the cor anglais as the majestic swan from Finnish mythology.

Sibelius - Finlandia is a fitting finale to this Sibelius series which also includes critically acclaimed recordings of four of his symphonies.

Thomas Søndergård is Principal Conductor of BBC NOW and Principal Guest Conductor of the Royal Scottish National Orchestra; a rare honour to hold titled positions with two major British orchestras. Søndergård has conducted many leading orchestras such as the London Philharmonic Orchestra, the Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra, the City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra, the Oslo Philharmonic, the Danish National Symphony Orchestra, the Deutsches Symphonie-Orchester Berlin, the Royal Stockholm Philharmonic Orchestra, the Brussels Philharmonic, the Swedish Radio Symphony Orchestra, the Toronto Symphony Orchestra and the Chicago Symphony Orchestra.

BBC NOW plays an integral role in the cultural and classical landscape of Wales and performs annually at the BBC Proms and biannually at BBC Cardiff Singer of the World. The orchestra celebrated its ninetieth anniversary in April 2018.

‘Søndergård and the BBC NOW should be considered an important voice of Sibelius...’ – Hi-Fi+

‘I can only welcome, with fast-beating heart, one of the great new Sibelian teams into the record business...’ – The Herald

‘These are rather mild, lovingly designed Sibelius interpretations with a fine balance of sound colors...’ – Fono Forum

‘The BBC National Orchestra of Wales [was] in top form under Thomas Søndergård’s direction.’ – The Independent