Grieg and Stenhammar

Edvard Grieg's Piano Concerto is a classic among classics, constantly featured on concert programmes worldwide, and probably available in hundreds of recordings. Grieg was 25 when he composed the music, and the fact that it was his first work with an orchestra is astonishing. Taking on his compatriot's superhit is none other than Leif Ove Andsnes, one of the world's leading pianists.

The concert opens with the exciting premiere of Rocking Bodies by Chrichan Larson. Rocking Bodies plays with the idea of resonant bodies moving in waves around a centre – sometimes repelled, sometimes drawn in. Larson is active as a composer and cellist, a prominent musician who has often been seen in the cello section of the Royal Stockholm Philharmonic Orchestra.

Concluding the concert, Chief Conductor Ryan Bancroft leads the orchestra in Wilhelm Stenhammar's exquisite Serenade. Stenhammar got the idea for the music during a stay in Florence in 1907. In one of his letters, he wrote: ”I want to compose as beautifully and tenderly about the South as only a Nordic person can.” He succeeded, for the Serenade is a masterpiece.

Read more about chief conductor Ryan Bancroft