YO-YO MA And KATHRYN STOTT

We welcome superstar Yo-Yo Ma back to Konserthuset in an eagerly anticipated visit to Sweden, this time in the company of pianist Kathryn Stott. “Yo-Yo Ma has dedicated his virtuosity and his heart to journeys of musical exploration and discovery around the world. With a cello and curiosity in his wake, Yo-Yo Ma has in travelling routes like the Silk Road, united people from every continent. Yo-Yo Ma is living proof that music is communication, passion and the ability to share experience.” Thus began the statement when Yo-Yo Ma was presented the Polar Music Prize in 2012.

With his grand and warm tone, the Chinese-American cellist has a rare capacity to convey both the joyful and dramatic dimensions of music. We will hear examples of this at this concert, when together with award-winning British pianist Kathryn Stott, he tackles Stravinsky’s arrangements of various movements from the ballet music Pulcinella.

We will also hear Prokofiev’s subtle and elegant Sonata in C-Major and Rachmaninoff’s romantic and intimate Sonata in G-Minor. Rachmaninoff was himself a brilliant pianist, which is evident here when the piano next to the cello has the chance to spread its wings in masterful passages, refined chords and billowing accompaniment.

Konserthuset Play – Stravinsky Petrushka!
The music to the great ballets Rite of Spring, The Firebird and Petrushka are Stravinsky’s best known and most played works. In this concert video, with Chief Conductor Sakari Oramo, the Royal Stockholm Philharmonic Orchestra plays the concert version of Petrushka. Listen

Konserthuset Play – Prokofiev Symphony No.5!
In recent years, Daniel Blendulf has established himself as one of Sweden’s most high-profile conductors. Here, he leads the Royal Stockholm Philharmonic Orchestra in one of Prokofiev’s most popular and frequently played pieces: the Fifth Symphony. Listen