Klaus Mäkelä conducts Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra in Jimmy López Bellido​’s orchestral work, Aino, at the Concertgebouw in Amsterdam for its Dutch premiere on 12 January, before presenting the Belgian premiere at BOZAR in Brussels on 13 January. Sol Gabetta joins with Bloch’s Schelomo, and the programme concludes with Strauss’ An Alpine Symphony.

López Bellido’s tone poem for orchestra follows the story of the eponymous hapless maiden as told in the fourth poem of the Kalevala, Finland’s national epic. Aino was commissioned by Orchestre de Paris, Concertgebouworkest, and Chicago Symphony Orchestra, and is dedicated to Klaus Mäkelä.