Schumann and Nielsen

Robert Schumann’s Cello Concerto is imbued with dreamy passion and a warm, lyrical atmosphere. “I cannot write for virtuosos – I must try something else,” he remarked of the work himself. The expressive first movement is followed without pause by a lyrical, songful middle movement. The final, lively rondo gathers pace, allowing a playful spirit to come to the fore.

The soloist is Kian Soltani, who in recent seasons has appeared with many of the world’s leading orchestras, including the Elbphilharmonie in Hamburg and the Orchestre Philharmonique de Radio France in Paris. He made his debut at Konserthuset in 2017 in music by Richard Strauss with the West-Eastern Divan Orchestra under the direction of Daniel Barenboim, and has since also appeared with the Royal Stockholm Philharmonic Orchestra.

In Carl Nielsen’s music, humour is almost always present – a kind of wit, but at times also a musical irony. This is very much the case in his Second Symphony, composed after a visit to a country inn where Nielsen saw a painting on the wall depicting, somewhat mischievously, the four temperaments: choleric (fiery), sanguine (lively), melancholic (pensive) and phlegmatic (calm). Here, they are brought to life in music filled with warmth and abundant energy.

Read more about chief conductor Ryan Bancroft