The Shenzhen Symphony Orchestra (SSO) will present Sibelius’ “Finlandia” and “Violin Concerto” at the Shenzhen Concert Hall next month. Chinese violinist Gao Can will be featured.

　　“Finlandia” features rousing and turbulent music, evoking the national struggle of the Finnish people. Toward the end, a calm comes over the orchestra, and the serenely melodic “Finlandia Hymn” is heard. Often incorrectly cited as a traditional folk melody, the Hymn section is of Sibelius’s own creation.

　　“Violin Concerto” is the only concerto that Sibelius wrote, though he composed several other small-scale pieces for solo instrument and orchestra, including the six humoresques for violin and orchestra.

　　Donald Tovey described the final movement as a “polonaise for polar bears,” by which he meant, “in the easier and looser concerto forms invented by Mendelssohn and Schumann I have not met a more original, a more masterly, and a more exhilarating work than the Sibelius violin concerto.”

　　Much of the violin writing is purely virtuosic, but even the most showy passages alternate with the melodic.

　　Violinist Gao is currently teaching at the College Conservatory of Music with the University of Cincinnati in the United States and the Central Conservatory of Music in Beijing. He plays the 1617 “Lobkowicz” Amati violin sponsored by the Bein & Fushi-Stradivari Society in Chicago. This precious violin is famous for its intact preservation of its back piece, which inherited the tradition of the Prince Lobkowicz family. It has been widely regarded as the “Violin of Dream.”

　　Time: 8 p.m., Sept. 11

　　Tickets: 50-280 yuan

　　Reservations: 400-610-3721

　　Venue: Shenzhen Concert Hall, intersection of Hongli Road and Yitian Road, Futian District (福田区红荔路和益田路交汇处深圳音乐厅)

　　Metro: Longhua or Longgang Line, Children’s Palace Station (少年宫站), Exit D