Love and longing
The Eric Ericson Choir in music by Wagner, Mendelssohn-Bartholdy and new Swedish works.
The Eric Ericson Chamber Choir performs music by the major German Romantics Felix Mendelssohn-Bartholdy and Richard Wagner. Love and longing may be experienced in the music, however this programme also reflects on contrasts and tensions: Mendelssohn-Bartholdy was Jewish, Wagner an outspoken antisemite. Here they are juxtaposed in order to demonstrate differences and similarities. At the same time their music is observed by new pieces, where Staffan Storm reflects on Wagner and Britta Byström on Mendelssohn-Bartholdy.
Staffan Storm is a composer who in part has stylistic roots in German late Romanticism. His opera Im Treibhaus – with a libretto by Ebba Witt-Brattström – depicted crucial events in Wagner’s stormy romantic relationship with Mathilde Wesendonck. With an international perspective, Britta Byström’s music may have more French and Impressionistic elements. She is one of Sweden’s most played composers and was featured at Konserthuset’s Composer Weekend in 2010.
The Eric Ericson Chamber Choir was founded in 1945 by Eric Ericson, and since then it has taken a central role in the Swedish and international music scenes. For generations of Swedish composers, the chamber choir was the ideal ensemble, with its typical Nordic sound and virtuosity. The Eric Ericson Chamber Choir is part of the absolute elite level of professional ensembles. The Eric Ericson Chamber Choir and Royal Stockholm Philharmonic Orchestra have enjoyed a close partnership since 2003.
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The music
Approximate times -
Richard Wagner Treulich geführt – Bridal Chorus from Lohengrin3 min
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Richard Wagner Träume from Wesendonck Lieder arr Clytus Gottwald4 min
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Richard Wagner O du mein holder Abendstern from Tannhäuser5 min
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Staffan Storm Mondesschatten for chorus a cappella9 min
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Richard Wagner Siegfried Idyll ’’Treppenmusik’’ arr Gérard Pesson20 min
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Intermission25 min
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Felix Mendelssohn-Bartholdy Wedding March from A Midsummer’s Night Dream4 min
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Felix Mendelssohn-Bartholdy From Sechs Lieder for chorus a cappella op 488 min
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Felix Mendelssohn-Bartholdy Lord God of Abraham from Elijah3 min
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Britta Byström Another Part of the Wood for chorus a cappella10 min
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Felix Mendelssohn-Bartholdy Psalm No. 2 ’’Warum toben die Heiden’’ op 78:18 min
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Participants
- Eric Ericson Chamber Choir
- Fredrik Malmberg conductor
- Jakob Högström baritone