Chinese audiences are going to get a chance to savor the strains of classic northern European music, as the Finnish Chamber Orchestra is about to grace the stages of some of China's theatres.

The orchestra will perform at Beijing's Poly Theatre on Saturday evening, at Shanghai's Grand Theatre on Sunday and then at Guangzhou's Xinghai Concert Hall on November 28.

The programs include Sibelius' "Pelleas and Melisande,'' Beethoven's "Piano Concerto No 4'' and "Mozart's Symphony No 41.''

Acclaimed as "The Flagship of the Finnish Orchestral Fleet,'' and hailed for its technical precision, stylistic finesse and impeccable musicianship, the Finnish Chamber Orchestra performs a wide-ranging repertoire that includes music by Haydn, Mozart and Beethoven as well as Sibelius, Aulis Sallinen and other contemporary Finnish composers.

Comprised of soloists and leading players primarily from the Finnish Radio Symphony Orchestra, as well as the Helsinki Philharmonic and the Finnish National Opera Orchestra, the Finnish Chamber Orchestra was created in 1990 in order to provide additional opportunities for talented musicians to work together as an ensemble and to further explore the chamber repertoire.

The other commitments of the Finnish Chamber Orchestra's musicians enables the ensemble to perform only periodically, but for the same reason the concerts are characterized by exceptional charge and concentration.

Because of its autonomy the Finnish Chamber Orchestra can select its musicians, soloists, conductors and programs. In practice this has been done in close co-operation with its musical director Jukka-Pekka Saraste.

The former musical director of the Toronto Symphony Orchestra and the Finnish Radio Symphony Orchestra, Jukka-Pekka Saraste has demonstrated considerable musical depth and integrity.

The chamber orchestra's China tour will also feature one of the most exciting Finnish pianists, Olli Mustonen.

Mustonen's brilliant technique and startling interpretations have challenged and fascinated audiences throughout Europe and America.

He has worked with many of the world's leading orchestras, including the Berlin Philharmonic, Chicago Symphony, London Philharmonic and Philadelphia Orchestra, Philharmonic Orchestra and the New York Philharmonic.

For Mustonen, to follow traditional interpretations unthinkingly is uncreative. He holds the conviction that each performance must have all the freshness of a first performance, so that audience and performer alike encounter the composer as a living contemporary.

(China Daily November 22, 2003)