I often think about the life Sibelius led in his remote villa of Ainola. He had stopped traveling to his favorite cities—Berlin, Vienna and London—and must have felt quite lonely and isolated. Perhaps part of the reason he burned his Eighth Symphony was that he didn’t feel connected to the new modernistic trends in Europe.

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… is the artistic director of the Sibelius Festival in Lahti and chief conductor of the Helsinki Philharmonic Orchestra. He is currently recording the complete Sibelius symphonies with his ensemble in...