Mozart and Brahms

One might think the symphonies by Brahms are played often, but it has actually been a long time since Symphony No. 3 was performed by the Royal Stockholm Philharmonic Orchestra – the last time was at the Brahms Festival in 2014. 

The orchestra’s Conductor Laureate Alan Gilbert leads this richly melodic, sometimes mysterious third symphony by Brahms – music that gives a subtle nod to both Schumann and Wagner. Alan Gilbert is now chief conductor of the NDR Elbphilharmonie Orchestra in Hamburg and music director of the Royal Swedish Opera in Stockholm.

German pianist Martin Helmchen has guest-performed with us on several occasions, most recently in 2019. He is admired not only for his incredible technique, but also for his sensitivity and personal interpretations. Helmchen is the soloist in Mozart’s beloved, masterfully elegant Piano Concerto No. 22, which provides – especially in the last movement – echoes of the opera the Marriage of Figaro from the same era, around 1785.