The German-Romanian baritone Konstantin Krimmel has been forced to cancel his appearance due to illness. He is replaced at short notice by James Atkinson, who  now makes his debut at Konserthuset Stockholm.

The British baritone James Atkinson has won several prestigious singing competitions and is currently one of the BBC’s New Generation Artists. Equally at home in opera, orchestral repertoire and lieder, he has given acclaimed recitals at Wigmore Hall in London, Beethovenfest in Bonn, and the Oxford International Song Festival. He has been described as a lyrical storyteller with a radiant stage presence.

The programme features Liederkreis by Robert Schumann, who declared to his wife Clara that it was “my most romantic music ever, with much of you in it”. Johannes Brahms’s Vier ernste Gesänge, written during the final year of his life, offers a moving farewell to life. With texts drawn from the Bible, these songs reflect on the transience of life and the comfort of faith. Gerald Finzi’s song cycle Let us Garlands Bring presents five Shakespeare settings filled with lyrical warmth and English refinement.

The concert concludes with Songs of Travel – Ralph Vaughan Williams’s celebrated cycle to texts by Robert Louis Stevenson, music that truly takes the listener on a journey, both outward and inward.

Magnus Svensson has been the artistic director of the song recital series for several seasons. In addition to performing across the Nordic countries and the rest of Europe, he has also appeared in Russia and the United States. Since 2012, he has worked with the Royal Swedish Academy of Music on the reissue of early Swedish music.

Franz Schubert was only around 17–18 years old when he wrote his second symphony. Yet it is an impressive work in the spirit of Beethoven. In other words, it is music full of contrasts and captivating melodies.

The Royal Stockholm Philharmonic Orchestra is led by Franz Welser-Möst, who in 2018 was awarded the title Eric Ericson Honorary Chair. Since 2020, he regularly conducts the orchestra. It is a collaboration that follows the bond that developed between the orchestra and conductor during the initial concerts together, and has deepened over the years.

A composer who holds a special place in Welser-Möst's heart is Richard Strauss. Here, he leads the orchestra in An Alpine Symphony, which, despite the title, is not a traditional symphony but a tone poem that depicts a dramatic journey up and down an Alpine mountain, with changing weather and nature immersions. To portray the adventure, Strauss prescribes an enormous orchestra – including cowbells, wind and thunder machines, and an extra-large brass section.

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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