SIBELIUS RELEASE AWARDED EDISON KLASSIK

Klaus Mäkelä and the Oslo Philharmonic’ Sibelius album has been chosen for the 2022 Edison Klassiek Debut Award.

Announcing the award the jury commented: “Ambitious” is an understatement for this debut by the young Finnish conductor Klaus Mäkelä. He chose to record all the symphonies of his hard-to-fathom compatriot Sibelius with the Oslo Philharmonic. The tone is literally set from the first moment, when the icy clarinet looms above the timpani; Mäkelä clearly knows what colors he is looking for and also knows how to bring them out in both the entire orchestra and individual players – the power of an inspiring conductor. It is never extreme, just like the tempi he chooses, and with a clear goal in mind, which is in the service of the music. Finally, he completes the cycle by including Sibelius’ last symphonic work (not a symphony, in fact): it ends on the same note with which the First Symphony begins. Klaus Mäkelä, for example, presents a cool, exciting and colorful Sibelius with the Oslo Philharmonic. The young conductor may still be searching here and there, but that is exactly what you can expect from a debut: the promise for the future and the feeling that he will fulfill it. And that is definitely the case with Klaus Mäkelä. He shows that, as the new star conductor on the world stage, he has a lot to say.