Thing Helseth plays Haydn

At just over 20 years old, Finnish Klaus Mäkelä has already launched a luminous career, and has worked with many of the major orchestras in Finland and the Nordic and Baltic countries. He will now come to Konserthuset to conduct the Royal Stockholm Philharmonic Orchestra with a programme featuring Joseph Haydn.

Composed in 2005 as a commission for the New Stockholm Chamber Orchestra, Britta Byström’s Farewell Variations were originally intended to interact with Haydn’s Farewell Symphony.

Joseph Haydn’s Trumpet Concerto in E-flat Major premiered in 1800 and was composed for Anton Weidinger and his trumpet, which was considered modern at the time. The evening’s soloist, Tine Thing Helseth, is one of the world’s preeminent trumpet players, a trailblazer admired for her soulful and lyrical playing.  

Sergei Prokofiev’s composition teacher drilled into him to compose in the style of Haydn, and his Symphony No. 1 in D Major is a loving pastiche of the older master. Prokofiev called the symphony “the classic”, and indeed, the form is classic, but it is peppered with his singular voice.

The concert concludes with Johannes Brahms’ Variations on a Theme by Haydn. Whether the famous theme was in fact composed by Haydn is a subject of debate among music scholars, but there is no doubt that Brahms added his own personal touch, from the first variation to the eighth and last.