Members of the Orchestra

Be prepared: this is a programme that traverses emotional extremes. It begins gently and melancholic – sorrow can be beautiful – and concludes with the emotional outbursts that arise when the thunderous blows of the orchestra's thirteen hammers resonate through history, to the bone and marrow. It’s music that shakes you to the core.

In between, entirely different music by Felix Mendelssohn-Bartholdy. His first piano concerto is a musical fireworks display with dizzyingly fast runs across the entire range of the piano. At this concert, the rockets are ignited by the acclaimed British pianist Isata Kanneh-Mason.

Mendelssohn-Bartholdy was only seventeen when he wrote his wonderful overture to A Midsummer Night’s Dream. Yet it is considered one of his first mature masterpieces, and the young composer manages to capture the full range of emotions that Shakespeare presents in his universally human comedy.

Emotions, indeed. British composer Anna Clyne composed the opening piece Within Her Arms in 2009, in memory of her mother. The music for string ensemble resonates with a tenderness and warmth reminiscent of for instance the Renaissance composer John Dowland.

Closing The Confession of Isobel Gowdie was composed in 1990 by the Scottish composer James MacMillan, who is featured in the International Composer Festival this autumn. Chief Conductor Ryan Bancroft has testified to the transformative experience when he first heard the incredibly powerful work as a teenager.

Isobel Gowdie was burned at the stake during the Scottish witch trials in the 17th century. ”On behalf of the Scottish people, the work craves absolution and offers Isobel Gowdie the mercy and humanity that was denied her in the last days of her life”, writes MacMillan. In her memory, he composed an unforgettable and poignant ”requiem” for orchestra.

Read more about chief conductor Ryan Bancroft

Serge Rachmaninoff was strengthened by the success of Piano Concerto No. 2, which led him to attempt the symphonic form yet again – thank goodness. The brilliant Symphony No. 2 is deeply emotional, with a warm, overflowing flood of melodies. 

The Royal Stockholm Philharmonic Orchestra is led here by Fredrik Burstedt, who is also active as a violinist and first concertmaster with the Helsingborg Symphony Orchestra. He studied conducting with the legendary Jorma Panula, among others, and has conducted many Swedish orchestras as well as numerous opera productions, including at the Royal Swedish Opera and Vattnäs Konsertlada.

Dutch violinist Janine Jansen is a beloved and frequent performer at Konserthuset. With such empathy and intensity, few can captivate an audience like Jansen. At this concert, Janine Jansen and the Royal Stockholm Philharmonic Orchestra perform a new violin concerto by Britta Byström. 

Byström comments, “In this violin concerto, the soloist moves between ‘day music’ and ‘night music.’ The swirling and light day music becomes shorter and shorter as the night music lengthens – we hear all of the orchestral sounds that emerge as darkness falls. Composing for Janine Jansen has always been a dream for me and this piece is inspired by her expressive style.”

Spanish conductor Jaime Martín also leads the orchestra in Brahms’ Serenade No. 1. It would take time before Brahms presented a symphony, but the 25-year-old’s growing mastery of the orchestral form is evident here in this lyrical and heartfelt music. Jaime Martín was chief conductor of the Gävle Symphony Orchestra until recently and is now chief conductor of both the Melbourne Symphony Orchestra and the National Symphony Orchestra of Ireland.