This CD features German star violinist Frank Peter Zimmermann as soloist in the virtuoso Sibelius Violin Concerto. The work remains one of the most popular late Romantic concertos in the catalogue.

Frank Peter Zimmermann’s hallmark on this recording is his electrifying approach to the dazzling finale. Few performers reach Sibelius’s demanding tempo recommendation for this movement, which critics have described as an ‘invocation’ filled with ‘demonic passion’.

The Helsinki Philharmonic Orchestra under chief conductor John Storgårds also perform two powerful rarities by the same composer, the symphonic poems The Bard and The Wood Nymph.

The Helsinki Philharmonic Orchestra has unique credentials in performing Sibelius’s music, having premiered these tone poems a century ago, conducted by Sibelius himself.