The first performance of the Sibelius Violin Concerto in 1903 was so disastrous that Sibelius forbade further performances. Two years later, facing poverty, he revised the concerto considerably, shortening both the first movement and the finale and taking out two fiendish cadenzas and some formidable passage work for the soloist. In 1990 Robert von Bahr, founder of BIS Records, persuaded the Sibelius family and publishers to allow him to record the original version. The then 23-year-old Greek violinist Leonidas Kavakos, who won the 1985 Jean Sibelius Violin Competition in Helsinki, was invited to undertake the recording with the Lahti Symphony Orchestra under Osmo Vanska. The virtuoso performance, coupled on the disc with the final 1905 version, created a sensation, winning the Gramophone Concerto of the Year Award in 1991. "Listening to Sibelius' first thoughts, played with great virtuosity and excellent taste by Leonidas Kavakos, is an absorbing experience." (Gramophone) Next February Kavakos, Vanska and the Lahti Symphony give the first UK performances of the original version of the concert as part of a Sibelius weekend 27-28 February 1999 at Symphony Hall, Birmingham. For this occasion, the Sibelius estate have given a once-only agreement for the first public performance outside Finland of this version, otherwise suppressed until 2027 under copyright laws. Kavakos' superlative performances of the core violin repertoire have marked him out as a soloist of special distinction. Combining a purity of sound and vivid musical imagination, he has become a favourite soloist of many leading orchestras and conductors. Watch out for this remarkable talent!