Herbert Blomstedt conducts Sibelius and Brahms

In addition to a tendency towards taciturnity – a trait often attributed to Northern Europeans – Johannes Brahms and Jean Sibelius were also both convinced that programmes should be dispensed with when composing symphonies. Even without extramusical associations, however, every contribution of the two composers to this genre is characterized by a strong, individual profile. Brahms’s Third Symphony is distinguished by its alternation between major...