Summer concert – The Firebird

Mozart’s Piano Concerto No. 21 is one of his most beloved and most played. Since Bo Widerberg used the beautiful second movement in his movie about tightrope walker Elvira Madigan, many people refer to the concerto precisely as Elvira Madigan. The soloist will be David Huang, one of Sweden’s most acclaimed young pianists and winner of the prestigious Soloist Prize in 2014.

The programme also includes Paul Dukas’ The Sorcerer’s Apprentice, based on a story by Goethe. The music became a global hit when Disney used it in the 1940 film, Fantasia. Mickey Mouse plays an apprentice who loses control of his magical powers when the maser Yen Sid – or ‘Disney’ spelled backward – leaves him alone in the castle.

Stravinsky’s ballet The Firebird is also based on a story: a Russian folk tale. The premiere in 1910 at the Paris Opera was an enormous success and already the following year, Stravinsky had turned the music into an orchestral suite. In it, he used the same large orchestra as for the ballet, which posed a challenge for presenting many performances. Therefore, in 1919, he reworked the music for a more traditional orchestral composition, which is what will be performed here.

Earlier announced conductor Speranza Scappucci has been obliged to cancel the performance due to illness. She is replaced by the young German conductor Michael Balke, recently named Principal Guest Conductor at the St. Gallen Theatre and Symphony Orchestra (Switzerland) starting his tenure in the 2018/19 season. This will be his debut with the Royal Stockholm Philharmonic Orchestra.