San Francisco Symphony & Esa-Pekka Salonen - Sibelius: Symphony No. 5 (2023) [Hi-Res]

Composed in 1915, Jean Sibelius’s Fifth Symphony was commissioned by the Finnish government to celebrate the composer’s 50th birthday, which was declared a national holiday. When he returned home a year earlier from a recent successful trip to America, he heard the news of the assassination at Sarajevo of the heir to the Austrian throne. He had scarcely settled into his life again when, to his horror and disbelief, virtually all Europe was at war. Sibelius had jotted these words in his notebook: “In a deep valley again. But I already begin to see dimly the mountain that I shall certainly ascend….. God opens His door for a moment and His orchestra plays the Fifth Symphony.” These recordings were produced by Jason O’Connell. Jon Johannsen was the recording engineer, and Mark Willsher was the mastering engineer and mixing engineer.

San Francisco Symphony
Esa-Pekka Salonen, conductor

Recorded live on June 2022