The Nightingale and Cinderella

Igor Stravinsky and Sergei Prokofiev – two modern classics, both with a unique gift for musical storytelling. This concert centres on two classic fairy tales, alongside a virtuosic and playful Piccolo Concerto. The Royal Stockholm Philharmonic Orchestra is led by Chief Conductor Ryan Bancroft.

Stravinsky’s Song of the Nightingale is based on Hans Christian Andersen’s tale of the nightingale and the Chinese emperor. The music contrasts the living, free song with the mechanical and artificial, and Stravinsky lets the orchestra shine in constantly shifting colours. It is a story of authenticity and beauty, in which the simple and human ultimately surpass the rigid and the perfect.

Between the two fairy-tale works, we hear Lowell Liebermann’s Piccolo Concerto, one of the most significant solo works for piccolo in modern times. Here, the small instrument is given an unusually broad palette of colours, ranging from dazzling brilliance to lyrical reflection. The soloist is the Royal Stockholm Philharmonic Orchestra’s own flautist Anna Riikonen, who here steps forward in the spotlight.

After the interval follows Prokofiev’s Cinderella Suite, compiled by Chief Conductor Ryan Bancroft, based on the well-known fairy tale of Cinderella, with its themes of oppression, dreams and transformation. The music captures both the harsh and the tender: the sharply drawn portraits of the stepfamily, the love story, and the magical atmosphere surrounding midnight. With his characteristic blend of elegance, humour and edge, Prokofiev brings the tale vividly to life.

Read more about chief conductor Ryan Bancroft