Finnish Radio Symphony Orchestra

“It can’t get more soulful than that. The strings demonstrated a wide range of colours, with stunning pianissimo passages – what a touching way to bring the Festival to an end.“ (Bonner Rundschau, October 2011)

“Only a work with a soundworld as rich as Nielsen’s Fourth Symphony could follow this. The two timpanists positioned to the right and left performed brilliantly in the warring duel, with the strings whipped up into a frenzy and the horns delivering a broad and full-bodied sound. Conductor Oramo masterfully rode the wave of euphoria. An encore from their native land – a delicate and placid work by Sibelius – was the perfect encore to bring us down from this high. An afternoon that left an indelible impression.” (Ruhr Nachrichten, May 2011)

“This great orchestra from the far north left us with an incredible impression of its organic development in the Central European style. The string sound could not have been more lush or blended and the brass displayed a radiant vitality under the leadership of chief conductor, Sakari Oramo.” (Frankfurter Rundschau, May 2011)

“This was always going to be one of the season's high-spots, and it even surpassed expectations…With the Finnish Radio Symphony Orchestra under Sakari Oramo judging the instrumental textures and colours so sensitively, this performance was utterly spell-binding.” (The Telegraph, August 2006)