Of the music of Finnish composer Jean Sibelius (above), Klaus Mäkelä says, "In his seven symphonies alone, you find the right mood for every step or chapter in a conductor's life."
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Klaus Mäkelä, music director designate of the Chicago Symphony Orchestra, launches his fall 2026 residency with music of his homeland, Sibelius’ Symphony No. 7, in concerts Sept. 24-26.
"As a Finnish conductor you really can’t avoid Sibelius. You are almost expected to play his music," said Mäkelä in a video interview recorded for the NDR Elbphilharmonie of Hamburg, Germany, before 2022 concerts there of Sibelius’ symphonies. "I’m actually very grateful for that, as his work possesses immense depth. In his seven symphonies alone, you find the right mood for every step or chapter in a conductor’s life."
For his debut release on Decca Classics, Mäkelä recorded the complete Sibelius symphonic cycle. In the liner notes for that set, he observed: “Sibelius not only reimagined the structure and grammar of orchestral music at the turn of the 20th century, he also was the first composer to give the Nordic region its own musical language, distinct from the dominant German symphonic tradition at the time. Sibelius became a cultural icon in the Finnish nationalist movement and interpretations of his works are inextricably linked to the distinguished line of conductors who grew up in Finland after the composer.”
The Decca project began as a nine-month exploration of the Sibelius symphonies to mark Mäkelä’s inaugural season with the Oslo Philharmonic as chief conductor but the COVID-19 outbreak, turned it into a completely immersive recording project, with the orchestral season disrupted, Mäkelä and the orchestra devoting much of spring 2021 to the music of Sibelius.
‘We played, played, played and then recorded,“ Mäkelä said. ”Sibelius’ music, like that of any composer, is a language you have to learn and the circumstances under which we recorded actually played to our advantage."
In his Elbphilharmonie interview, Mäkelä elaborates on what makes Sibelius’ music distinct “He carried on the late Romantic tradition formed in the main by German-speaking composers. He adopted some of its elements, but at the same time, he forged his own, very individual style, chiefly in the fields of orchestration and structure. To my mind, one of his greatest strengths is his feeling for the architecture of a work, for the right proportions.”
Mäkelä cites Sibelius’ Symphony, No. 7, which he will perform with the CSO, as an example. "The Seventh is held together by a sweeping breath, by one big arc. Yet Sibelius still manages to say everything here that Mahler expresses in his Third — he just does it in the space of 20 minutes instead of an hour and a half. Don’t get me wrong — I love Mahler’s music. I just want to illustrate Sibelius’ mastery of condensed form."
He also hails the Seventh for its perfection. “Later on, Sibelius was interested solely in as pure a musical expression as possible, such as he achieved in exemplary fashion in his Seventh Symphony. Here, he limits himself to minimal resources, yet still attains perfect form and harmony.”
Mäkelä explains that the greatest challenge in creating a convincing Sibelius interpretation is deciphering a work’s inner logic. "As the conductor, I have to give the musicians the feeling that they are connected with the substance of the work, with its content. In Sibelius’ case, thus it means a fair amount of precise work; his music doesn’t come to life of its own will.
"And that’s good. It forces us to question the meaning of the individual parts, of every texture and gesture, in order to incorporate them in a convincing whole. If you manage that, the music flows of its own accord."
