Sibelius

Roald Dahl's epic story, The Minpins, is presented with music by Sibelius.

The Minpins was Roald Dahl's last story. A small boy comes to the defence of a race of tiny forest people. Flying on the back of a magic swan, he defeats a fire-breathing monster who is terrorising them.

The magical fable harks back to Dahl’s own Scandinavian roots. This adaptation sets Dahl’s words – spoken by a narrator – against a rich backdrop of wild and imaginative orchestral music composed by the greatest of all Nordic composers, Jean Sibelius.

Patrick Benson’s classic illustrations from the original book are brought to life using animation and projected above the orchestra.

At the heart of the performance is Sibelius’s own final masterpiece, Tapiola, an orchestral work which also describes a journey into a dark, enchanted forest.

'Tapiola is full of amazing imaginative effects,' says conductor and arranger Peter Ash. 'They seem perfectly to evoke a boy flying at night on the back of a swan, through a forest of elves, goblins and airborne spirits.'

Take your seats for an enchanting ride.