Tour preparations

The Royal Stockholm Philharmonic Orchestra is on its way to Europe for guest performances at concert halls including the historic Concertgebouw in Amsterdam and London’s Royal Albert Hall for BBC Proms. Selections from the tour programme will be played on their home stage at Konserthuset here, offering views of Liguria and the Rhine – and an exposé of the human psyche.

Andrea Tarrodi is one of Sweden’s most buzzed-about young composers, praised by audiences and critics alike for her personal and vibrant music. Her orchestral piece Liguria was inspired by the idyllic little fishing villages on the Ligurian Sea on the northwest coast of Italy. 

Robert Schumann was rarely as happy as he was while traversing the countryside around the Rhine river with his wife, Clara. He took inspiration from the generous light and warmth of the landscape, transforming it into musical vitality and pure joy in his Symphony No. 3, also called the Rhenish.

With Carl Nielsen, humour is an almost constant presence. It involves a sort of wittiness, as well as occasional elements of musical sarcasm, according to Sakari Oramo. This is particularly applicable to Symphony No. 2. It was composed after a visit to a village restaurant where Nielsen saw a picture on the wall which rather sarcastically portrayed the four human temperaments: choleric, phlegmatic, melancholic and sanguine. Nielsen converted these concepts into music, depicting each of the four temperaments in its own movement. 

The music here thus forms the basis of the tour programme that the Royal Stockholm Philharmonic is taking on the road. Also joining the tour is celebrity opera singer Renée Fleming.