As chief conductor of the Gothenburg Symphony Orchestra, Santtu-Matias Rouvali has spent five years recording Sibelius’ symphonies and symphonic poems for Alpha Classics, landmarks of the discography which have received numerous awards worldwide. He wanted to continue this cycle with the famous violin concerto, for which he chose the young Swedish violinist Ava Bahari, artist in residence at the Gothenburg Symphony and ECHO Rising Star for 2026/2027 on the album Sibelius: Violin Concerto & Lemminkäinen Suite
Together, they form a close-knit duo and share the same passion for the music of the Finnish composer who, heartbroken at not having realised his dream of becoming a virtuoso violinist, composed a concerto that would become an essential work in the history of music, in which soloist and orchestra merge… Rouvali and the GSO also recorded another work that demonstrates Sibelius’ innovative symphonic thinking: the cycle of Four Legends of Lemminkäinen, first heard in Helsinki on 13 April 1896.
Ava Bahari, Violin
Gothenburg Symphony Orchestra
Santtu-Matias Rouvali, Conductor
Tracklist
Please note that the below previews are loaded as 44.1 kHz / 16 bit.Total time: 01:20:39
Additional information
| Label | |
|---|---|
| SKU | ALPHA1215 |
| Qualities | DSD 512 fs, DSD 256 fs, DSD 128 fs, DSD 64 fs, DXD 24 Bit, WAV 96 kHz |
| Channels | |
| Artists | Ava Bahari, Gothenburg Symphony Orchestra, Santtu-Matias Rouvali |
| Genres | |
| Conductors | |
| Original Recording Format | |
| Instruments | |
| Recording Location | Gothenburg Concert Hall, Gothenburg (Sweden) |
| Producer | Jens Braun |
| Editing | Jens Braun |
| Recording Engineer | Joar Hallgren, Michael Dahlvid |
| Mixing | Lars Nilsson |
| Mastering | Lars Nilsson, Michael Dahlvid |
| Release Date | April 24, 2026 |
Press reviews
Gramophone – Editor’s Choice May 2026
Hugely impressed by Ava Bahari here. She is truly a storyteller. There is untold generosity and cleanness to the playing and the best way I can express what sets apart her reading of this oft-performed piece is the value with which she imbues every note, be it part of a singing phrase or a driving rush of pyrotechnics. Nothing is ‘incidental’, every note has a purpose. And it’s generous too, expansive in the best sense with natural-sounding rubatos. Her partner in this endeavour – Santtu-Matias Rouvali – is like-minded, carving out the rugged contours with dramatic starkness (the Gothenburg Symphony and he understand the word ‘elemental’) and turning the quietudes into deafening silence.
Only logged in customers who have purchased this product may leave a review.
Reviews
There are no reviews yet.