CENTRAL ENGLAND: Mike Wheeler's concert reviews from Nottingham and Derbyshire feature high profile artists on the UK circuit - often quite early on their tours.
DISCUSSION: Composers Daniel Schorno and John Dante Prevedini discuss creativity, innovation and re-invention with Maria Nockin, Mary Mogil, Giuseppe Pennisi and Roderic Dunnett.
DISCUSSION: Defining Our Field - what is 'classical music' to us, why are we involved and what can we learn from our differences? Read John Dante Prevedini's essay, watch the panel discussion and make your own comments.
Finnish composer, conductor and teacher Robert Kajanus was born into a musical and artistic family in what is now Helsinki on 2 December 1856. He studied there, and also in Leipzig (where his teachers included Carl Reinecke and Hans Richter) and in Paris with Johan Svendsen. Initially he worked in Dresden before returning to Helsinki.
His accomplishments included founding and conducting the Helsinki Philharmonic Orchestra (then known as the Helsinki Orchestral Society), conducting the first performance in Finland of Beethoven's Choral Symphony, championing the music of his friend Jean Sibelius, working for nearly thirty years as director of music at Helsinki University and composing more than two hundred works, including Kullervo's Funeral March, the symphonic poem Aino, two Finnish Rhapsodies and various ceremonial music for Finland.
Robert Kajanus died in Helsinki on 6 July 1933, aged seventy-six.
CD Spotlight. Awesome Power - Orchestral music from Finland, strongly recommended by Gerald Fenech. '... energetic performances that consistently engage the listener ...'
CD Spotlight. Enduring Legacy - Sibelius symphonies, recommended by Howard Smith. '... an important enterprise ...'