Osmo Vnsk joined the Minnesota Orchestra as music director in the fall of 2003. That very season, in February of 2004, he and his band made their first visit together to Carnegie Hall — and they gave a performance so thrilling that it got Vnsk named "Conductor of the Year" by Musical America. (I was at that concert, and my head was buzzing for almost a week afterward.)

The powerhouse team has returned to Carnegie Hall tonight for the first of two concerts exploring the kinship between the symphonies of Beethoven and Sibelius.

This evening's performance pairs Beethoven's Symphony No. 4 with the Fifth Symphony of Sibelius; tomorrow night brings the Sibelius Fourth and Beethoven Fifth Symphonies.

Both concerts begin at 8 p.m. in the hall's Isaac Stern Auditorium. More information and tickets are available at www.carnegiehall.org. To find out more about Vдnskд and the Minnesota Orchestra, including performances scheduled in Minneapolis and on tour, visit www.mnorch.org.