Noon concert
Klaus Mäkelä
Janine Jansen Jean Sibelius

Jean Sibelius (1865-1957) started violin lessons when he was 14 years old and was soon completely absorbed by the instrument. In the next decade, he dreamed of becoming a concert violinist, but eventually, he gave up and focused instead on composition. Sibelius' Violin Concerto became his unhappy declaration of love for the violin, and the first version was so technically difficult that the soloists did not master the challenges.

In 1904, the same year as he wrote the violin concerto, Jean Sibelius and his family moved to his new home in the city of Järvenpää, a few miles north of Helsinki. In the spring of 1915, he had one of his most substantial natural experiences when he saw 16 swans taking off in a flock on one of his walks. The incident directly inspired the "swan theme" in his fifth symphony, which premiered in Helsinki on the composer's 50th birthday in December of the same year.