for the first time ever

Since 2015, Christian Lindberg has been chief conductor of the Israel NK Orchestra, which is now visiting Konserthuset Stockholm for the first time ever. The ensemble has been ranked by the Israeli Ministry of Culture as the country’s most prominent orchestra, side by side with the Israel Philharmonic. Lindberg is one of Sweden’s most established names in music internationally. His career as a trombone player is unparalleled and in 2015, British Classical FM named him “The Greatest Brass Player in History.”

He appears as a soloist and a conductor in his own trombone concerto Black Hawk Eagle and in Per Egland’s Variations on Hava Nagila for trombone, mandolin and orchestra. We will also get to experience the fascinating birds of paradise portrayed musically by Andrea Tarrodi, who is incidentally Christian Lindberg’s daughter.

The concert will begin with music by Mozart, the festive Symphony No. 34 with its fanfare-filled opening. It was the final symphony he composed before moving from Salzburg to Vienna. Both the first and last movements are reminiscent of opera and serve as instrumental scenery. The world premiere in Vienna in 1781, a performance described as “magnifique” by Mozart in a letter to his father Leopold, gave his career a fresh boost in the capital city.

To conclude we will hear Prokofiev’s Symphony No. 1, one of the very first neoclassical works. This piece shimmers with classical Viennese style, in a category that often includes the music of Haydn, Mozart and Beethoven. Nevertheless, something about the symphony makes it seem as if it simply could not have been composed in 18th century. Prokofiev’s distinctive sound is heard in the music, which is an impression of a typical symphony by Haydn.