Jean Sibelius

Kullervo op. 7 Fassung der UA Apr. 1892

Sibelius 'Zeroth' Symphony for the first time more than just a facsimile With the 'Kullervo' premiere in 1892, Jean Sibelius already announced his claim as a symphonist at the age of 27, far ahead of the purely instrumental symphonies and tone poems. At the same time, the text of the 'Kalevala' epic defined him as a Finnish composer of his time, interpreting the title character in modern psychological terms. By the time Sibelius enjoyed great international success at the beginning of the 20th century, his 'Zeroth' Symphony had already fallen into oblivion again. After a provisional first release in 1966, 'Kullervo' quickly won the esteem of Sibelius conductors, who performed the work with its Finnish vocal text outside their homeland. Despite pioneering recordings by Paavo Berglund, Colin Davis, Jukka-Pekka Saraste, Esa-Pekka Salonen and Osmo Vänskä, among others, this magnificent work has not yet received adequate attention in international concert life. Not least because there has been no practicable edition. The complete edition volumes edited by Glenda Dawn Goss offer for the first time a scientifically verified musical text. It will form the basis for the planned performance material - the Complete Edition 'Jean Sibelius Works' sees itself as a pioneer for a new evaluation of the Finnish composer, especially in the case of the only choral symphony that has been editorially neglected to date.