Michael Holmes conducts Sibelius 7th Symphony (Part 1)

Jean Sibelius - Symphony No. 7, Op. 105
Varna Philharmonic, Bulgaria
Michael Holmes, Conductor
Live performance: October 11, 1998

About the video:
All images come from Finnish nature, except, of course, the mountain photo. Finland is a flat country, spotted with thousands of lakes. The first climax with the trombone solo for me has to do with reaching and attaining things higher than oneself. The other images include:

-Koli mountain, in Karelia (considered a sacred place for many Finns)
-Sibelius monument at Sibelius Park in Helsinki
-Finnish swans (Finland's most beloved bird)
-Imatrankoski in Karelia (Rapids at Imatra)
-Wäinö Aaltonen creating the Sibelius busts
-Various images of Sibelius

About Michael Holmes:

Michael Holmes's career has encompassed a wide spectrum of musical pursuits, including the fields of historical performance, symphonic conducting, composing/arranging, and scholarly research. He serves as music director of the Orchestra of the 17th Century in Washington D.C., artistic director of the Washington Cornett and Sackbutt Ensemble (one of the USA's premiere period brass ensembles), and director of the University of Maryland Collegium Musicum. He has also performed on an array of period instruments with ensembles such as Stylus Luxurians, the Washington Bach Consort, Opera Lafayette, and Piffaro. Michael has performed extensively as a conductor in Europe, leading symphonic, opera, and historical performances in Poland, Czech Republic, Finland, Romania, and Bulgaria. His conducting teachers have included Jorma Panula, Neeme Järvi, Otakar Trhlík, František Vajnar, and Georg Tintner. As a Fulbright Scholar, he undertook extensive research on Nordic music in Finland, specializing in the music of Sibelius, and sang on two tours with the premiere Finnish male voice choir Ylioppilaskunnan Laulajat (including one at New York's Lincoln Center), and was present during their recording of the Sibelius complete works for male voice choir on the Finlandia label. Currently, he serves as the music director at the Unitarian Universalist Church of Silver Spring, MD.

Contact: musicdirector@uucss.org
URL: http://www.myspace.com/mikkokotilainen

Category:

Music

Tags:

• classical
• Jean
• Sibelius
• 7th
• Symphony
• Op.
• 105
• Varna
• Philharmonic
• Bulgaria
• Michael
• Holmes
• Conductor
• Finland

[onaqskosata]

A beautiful performance!!!! Makes me sad that I couldn't see it live!

Greetings from Bulgaria

[msholmes]

@onaqskosata That's very kind of you. It was an unforgettable performance, and highlight of my conducting career.

[onaqskosata]

Unfortunatelly the Varna Philharmonic is not at the same professional level as it used to be, because it's so underpaid and the musicians don't care about the quality of the performance anymore. Besides that, this kind of music is not being played in here, because most people don't understand nordic culture and music. Not a good situation at all...

[msholmes]

@onaqskosata I thought that the combination of the opera and the Filharmonia would make the quality higher. I heard that they combined shortly after I was there. I wrote an article about Sibelius's music in Eastern Europe. Would you like me to send it to you?

[jeherbers]

What a beautiful piece - so evocative and moving. I've wanted to visit for a long time. Now I also want to hear more Sibelius.

[msholmes]

I hope you got a chance to see Part III, which is the ultimate culmination. See the first video response above.

[SteveHubbleHugger]

Very moving interpretation. The passion for the country and the music really comes out. I am not that familiar with this work, but this was an inspiring introduction! The still images add a lot to the experience of listening.

[spacepatrolman]

@onaqskosata aurora borealis at 2:14 must be inside the artic circle

[youtubister]

Ah, Sibelius. Always. Fine performance. And nice images too.

[onaqskosata]

yes, thank you. That would be very interesting for me.

[workingsheepdogbte]

Lovely sensitive performance - is it available on CD?

[erikstijnen]

Absolutely fantastic performance. Great build up to the climax.

[simonroyboswell]

The placid, thoughtful introduction sets the mood, drawing our attention to the underlying textures even as Holmes liberates the loveliness of each solo instrumental line. An experienced early-music specialist, he dares adopt a slow tempo for the long string counterpoint 2'10" & reveals the serenity of the Palestrina ideal that here so clearly inspired Sibelius. This leads convincingly into the trombone theme 5'37": still tranquil though not without tension where appropriate 6'08">7'07" [cont]