Bbcso/ Sakari Oramo - Jean Sibelius: Lemmink�inen Suite, Spring Song, Suite from 'Belshazzar's Feast'

Chief conductor of the BBC Symphony Orchestra since 2013, Finnish conductor Sakari Oramo has a special affinity with the music of his compatriot Sibelius which this recording admirably demonstrates. Sibelius� ever-popular �Lemmink�inen Suite� is coupled here with �Spring Song�, and the lesser-known Suite from �Belshazzar�s Feast�. Sibelius composed the �Lemmink�inen Suite� (also called the Four Legends, or Four Legends from the Kalevala), Op. 22, in the 1890s. Originally conceived as a mythological opera, Veneen luominen (The Building of the Boat), the suite is based on the character Lemmink�inen from the Finnish epic, the Kalevala. Sibelius� music for �Belshazzar�s Feast� was originally composed as incidental music for a play (by Hjalmar Procop�), in 1906. First performed in the Swedish Theatre in Helsinki in November of that year, conducted by the composer. The following year, Sibelius extracted four of the eight movements to form the more widely known orchestral suite we hear in this recording.