Tchaikovsky and Nielsen in Sheffield

High-flying Finn, John Storgårds, conducts the BBC Philharmonic in an exciting concert of Scandinavian and Russian music.

Grieg actually disliked Ibsen’s Peer Gynt, but for a production of the play he composed some of his most inspired and best-known music – including ‘Morning’ and ‘In the Hall of the Mountain King’.

Carl Nielsen’s First Symphony – a remarkable achievement for a 27 year old composer – is both distinctively Danish and highly personal in style.

Then a tuneful tribute to the composers of the eighteenth century, Tchaikovsky’s ‘Rococo Variations’, here performed by rising star of the cello, Leonard Elschenbroich.

The evening comes to a stirring conclusion with Sibelius’ great hymn to his compatriots, Finlandia.