Marking his debut on Ondine, the German star violinist Frank Peter Zimmermann is featured here as soloist in the virtuoso Sibelius Violin Concerto, one of the most spectacular late Romantic works in its genre. Its dazzling finale has been described as an 'invocation' filled with 'demonic passion'.

Also, the Helsinki Philharmonic Orchestra under chief conductor John Storgårds performs two elusive tone poems by the same composer, The Bard and The Wood Nymph - works that were premiered by the same orchestra a century ago, conducted by Sibelius himself. The Wood Nymph is based on the ballad "Skogsrået" by Viktor Rydberg; a first sketch resulted in a play with music (for narrator, strings, two French horns, and piano). The present recording follows the orchestral version's recently published critical edition.