“So thorough is an immersion into the world of Jean Sibelius offered by Seattle Symphony in coming weeks that a drinking-age patron will be able to sample the Finnish composer’s favorite cocktail in Benaroya Hall’s Grand Lobby,” a concoction known as black punch, writes Tom Keogh in Friday’s (3/6) Seattle Times. From March 12 to 28, “In celebration of the 150th birthday of the late-Romantic symphonist … Sibelius will be the intense focus of Seattle Symphony Orchestra’s three-week festival ‘Luminous Landscapes: The Sibelius Symphonies.’ Thomas Dausgaard, a frequent guest conductor at SSO and new principal guest conductor for the organization, has taken the reins of this sprawling event, which includes all seven of Sibelius’ symphonies as well as his 1900 tone poem ‘Finlandia.’ … The festival has a partner in Seattle’s Nordic Heritage Museum, which opens its ‘Finland: Designed Environments’ exhibit the same day the symphonic cycle begins.… The entire Sibelius symphonic cycle will stream online on Classical KING FM’s Symphonic channel for all of March 29.” A separate article in Wednesday’s (3/11) Scotsman (Edinburgh) reports that Dausgaard has been appointed as chief conductor of the BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestra, beginning in 2016-17.
Posted March 12, 2015