Richard Strauss with Asmik Grigorian

Asmik Grigorian is one of the most acclaimed sopranos in the opera world. Her international breakthrough came exactly ten years ago with a triumphant debut at the Royal Swedish Opera in Stockholm, an appearance that was quickly followed by invitations to the world’s leading opera houses. Now, audiences at Konserthuset will also have the opportunity to hear her, as she performs for the first time with the Royal Stockholm Philharmonic Orchestra.

We hear her in Richard Strauss’s late masterpiece Vier letzte Lieder – music of sublime sensuality and dreamlike beauty, where the soprano line floats above the richly textured orchestral writing. Strauss composed the songs in the final year of his life, and they may be heard as a farewell to life itself. The music is marked not by drama, but by stillness, reconciliation and an almost otherworldly beauty.

Der Rosenkavalier is perhaps Strauss’s most beloved opera. Inspired by Mozart’s Le nozze di Figaro, it is set in 18th-century Vienna and portrays the young Octavian’s relationship with the older Marschallin, and his love for Sophie. The opera’s famous waltzes evoke an image of Vienna’s bygone elegance. An orchestral suite has been assembled from some of its most cherished passages.

The Royal Stockholm Philharmonic Orchestra is led by Franz Welser-Möst, who has been awarded the orchestra’s honorary title Eric Ericson Honorary Chair. Renowned for his refined interpretations of Richard Strauss, he has also, together with Robert Mandell, prepared the Rosenkavalier suite performed here.