This concert features two late romantic masters—Jean Sibelius and Richard Strauss—exemplifying different approaches to romanticism. Despite his long creative life, Sibelius composed only one violin concerto (whose original premiere was a disaster) that has since become one of his most beloved and popular works, filled with romantic (albeit austere) passion mixed with Scandinavian lyricism. Actually, the revised version of this concerto was conducted by none other than Richard Strauss, whose Ein Heldenleben contemplates spiritual transformation strongly identifying with the conductor-composer’s ideals and philosophies.