Compare and Contrast

Danish conductor Herbert Blomstedt leads the Los Angeles Philharmonic in this program that features both of the composers' second symphonies, each with its distinct flavor and voice, highlighting both the differences and the connections within.

A hero in his native Finland, Jean Sibelius' Symphony No.2 is his most revered work, consolidating his feelings on the Russian oppression that the country was under at the time into a grandiose piece he called a 'confession of the soul.'

Beethoven's Symphony No.2 romps through drama and lyricism, beauty and serenity before building to a rousing and kinetic finale. Although seemingly joyous, it was written at a time of great suffering for the composer as he realised the extent of his encroaching deafness.