Jean Sibelius

Lahti is a small town near Helsinki, and its symphony is now the most world renowned interpreters of Sibelius. Here, the ensemble comes out of the inky Scandinavian black for "En Saga," a kettledrum filled moment of flickers and northern gloom, then returns into the profound silence with the nymph-filled seascapes of "The Oceansides." Although Sibelius wanted his symphonies to be "absolute music," these tone poems burst with fantastic imagery.