Shostakovich’s immersive Second Cello Concerto weaves a wide-ranging rhapsody that is brooding and spooky with moments of levity from the least likely of sources: a bagel. Inspiration is nothing if unpredictable, and Shostakovich’s muse was the Ukrainian street vendor’s song “Who will buy my bagel?”, which he transformed into a challenging cello tour de force. On stage and in her celebrated 2016 album featuring the concerto, Alisa Weilerstein has been praised for her deft interpretation of the work, leading The Guardian to write, “Her playing ranged from tranquil passages of sensual beauty to rough, demotic outbursts performed with the furious expression of one who has been rudely awoken from a beautiful dream.”

Sibelius’ inspiration for the Lemminkäinen Suite might skew loftier than boiled bread, but the result is just as enchanting. Subtitled “Four Legends from the Kalevala,” referencing Finland’s national mythological epic poem, the suite loosely follows the adventures of the heroic Lemminkäinen retold in Sibelius’ sonic landscapes. Ryan Bancroft leads the LA Phil through every musical twist and turn, from the majestic and mystical call of a swan to the harrowing land of the dead.