Classical concerts

Icelandic Víkingur Ólafsson is currently one of the world's most acclaimed and sought-after pianists. The New York Times coined him ”Iceland's Glenn Gould”, and his recordings are showered with five-star reviews. This season, he is the Artist-in-Residence at Konserthuset Stockholm.

Following the success of Bach's Goldberg Variations, which he performed to a full house here at Konserthuset last season, he takes on more of the classical music world’s great Bs – Brahms and Beethoven. A few days before this concert, he  performs Beethoven’s late piano sonatas in a solo recital. Last autumn, he played Brahms' first piano concerto, and now Beethoven’s Emperor Concerto with the Royal Stockholm Philharmonic Orchestra.

When Beethoven moved to Vienna, it was as a pianist that he first made his breakthrough. Audiences were captivated by his dazzling technique and improvisational skill. At the heart of his piano output are the five magnificent piano concertos, with the Emperor Concerto being the fifth. The title Emperor Concerto refers to the majestic first movement, which begins with powerful orchestral chords and virtuosic arpeggios and runs spanning the entire keyboard.

French conductor Stéphane Denève also leads the Royal Stockholm Philharmonic Orchestra in American Stacy Garrop's beautiful Penelope Waits from 2013, inspired by Greek mythology, and mythological music with dance themes by Paul Dukas and Richard Strauss.

Icelandic Víkingur Ólafsson is currently one of the world's most acclaimed and sought-after pianists. The New York Times coined him ”Iceland's Glenn Gould”, and his recordings are showered with five-star reviews. This season, he is the Artist-in-Residence at Konserthuset Stockholm.

Following the success of Bach's Goldberg Variations, which he performed to a full house here at Konserthuset last season, he takes on more of the classical music world’s great Bs – Brahms and Beethoven. A few days before this concert, he  performs Beethoven’s late piano sonatas in a solo recital. Last autumn, he played Brahms' first piano concerto, and now Beethoven’s Emperor Concerto with the Royal Stockholm Philharmonic Orchestra.

When Beethoven moved to Vienna, it was as a pianist that he first made his breakthrough. Audiences were captivated by his dazzling technique and improvisational skill. At the heart of his piano output are the five magnificent piano concertos, with the Emperor Concerto being the fifth. The title Emperor Concerto refers to the majestic first movement, which begins with powerful orchestral chords and virtuosic arpeggios and runs spanning the entire keyboard.

French conductor Stéphane Denève also leads the Royal Stockholm Philharmonic Orchestra in American Stacy Garrop's beautiful Penelope Waits from 2013, inspired by Greek mythology, and mythological music with dance themes by Paul Dukas and Richard Strauss.

Finnish-Swedish Moses Pergament (1893–1977) was a prominent and well-known figure in the music scene, active both as a composer and as a music critic for Svenska Dagbladet, but sadly now largely forgotten. He was born into an Orthodox Jewish family in Helsinki but moved to Stockholm in his twenties.

The Jewish Song was composed towards the end of the Second World War, while the Holocaust was still ongoing and becoming increasingly revealed. The texts are taken from two of Ragnar Josephson's poetry collections from the early 1900s: Kedjan (”The Chain”) and Jewish Poems. There, Pergament found ”the feelings of a true Jew. Not a contemptible nationalism, but a liberating sense of solidarity, even in the greatest suffering”. The work has been called a choral symphony, but in his biography of Pergament (2016), Carl-Gunnar Åhlén argues that symphonic song cycle would be a better description.

This is masterful, overwhelming, and emotionally impactful music that over the years has sadly been neglected. The only recording available is from 1974 – with the Royal Stockholm Philharmonic Orchestra, soloists, and choir conducted by James DePreist. It was also the Royal Stockholm Philharmonic Orchestra that premiered The Jewish Song in its entirety in 1947, after various planned performances had been delayed for years, probably due to political anxiety – even after the defeat of Nazi Germany.

Here, the Royal Stockholm Philharmonic Orchestra and the Eric Ericson Chamber Choir are led by Tobias Ringborg, and as soloists, we hear singers Agneta Eichenholz and the Norwegian Kjetil Støa.