This year’s European Festival: Ukrainian Spring begins with a guest performance by a chamber orchestra from the Lviv National Philharmonic Symphony Orchestra, one of Ukraine’s oldest and most prominent orchestras. It was founded in 1902 and has worked with some of the biggest names of music history. The orchestra regularly tours the world and has made important recordings in recent years for music labels such as Naxos, Toccata Classics and Brilliant Classics.

The theme of this year’s Ukrainian Spring is: Oh, you’re Ukrainian? – Ukrainian Stars on the World’s Stages   The festival aims to pay tribute to major cultural personalities who have made significant contributions to European culture, but whose Ukrainian origins are often unknown.

At this concert, we hear music by three of Ukraine’s biggest composers: Yevhen Stankovych, Myroslav Skoryk and Valentin Silvestrov. We also hear music by Leonard Bernstein and George Gershwin, both of whom had Ukrainian roots, as well as works by Swedish composers. The concert includes guest performances by three prominent Swedish artists: mezzo-soprano Anne Sofie von Otter, pianist Bengt Forsberg, guitarist Fabian Fredriksson and actor Stina Ekblad.

Lviv National Philharmonic Symphony Orchestra presented a celebrated concert at Konserthuset Stockholm in 2023. We now welcome the orchestra for a more intimate chamber music concert. Don’t miss this unique opportunity to hear some of Ukraine’s best musicians in a programme filled with passion, virtuosity and unyielding strength!

Two piano quartets – one modern and one romantic classic. They are, of course, very different in style, but the intensity and melancholic expressions unite these two works. The music is performed by three string musicians from the Royal Stockholm Philharmonic Orchestra together with pianist Anna Christensson.

British composer Charlotte Bray (born 1982) composed the piano quartet Replay in 2011. In ten minutes, she creates a world that begins in a sort of lament, then escalates in intensity before the music thins out and slowly dies away, as if from exhaustion.

Johannes Brahms' third piano quartet in C minor is one of the finest works in the genre – a masterpiece that many consider to be his most personal and autobiographical music. Embedded in the notes are both his anguish for his sick friend Robert Schumann and his forbidden feelings for Schumann's wife, Clara Schumann. Brahms believed that the both powerful and contemplative music should be illustrated with a photo of himself and a pistol aimed at his head.

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Menu: Asparagus soup with sunflower seeds. The soup is served with sourdough bread, crispbread, butter, mineral water/light beer, coffee/tea, and a chocolate piece. Wine and beer available for purchase for those who wish.

All soups are lactose- and gluten-free. Please inform us of any dietary requirements when booking.

Konserthuset Stockholm at Hötorget is one of Sweden’s great architectural masterpieces. Created during a period of expansion in Stockholm, by the Swedish architect Ivar Tengbom, it opened in 1926. Konserthuset Stockholm was built for the Royal Stockholm Philharmonic Orchestra and has since the start been the dedicated venue for the Nobel Prize Award Ceremony as well as many other prestigious events.

• The guided tour is held in Swedish.
• Maximum 25 persons/tour.

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Subtitles
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