Royal Stockholm Philharmonic Orchestra

Jacob Mühlrad is one of Sweden’s most acclaimed composers, including internationally. In 2020, a multi-year collaboration began between the Royal Stockholm Philharmonic Orchestra and Jacob Mühlrad that includes the commission of two larger orchestral works. In September, we will hear the world premiere of the first one: REMS (rapid eye movement sleep). The world premiere had been scheduled for last spring, but was delayed due to the pandemic.

Jacob Mühlrad says the following of REMS:

“The music conveys different aspects of the mystery and energy associated with our unconscious dream states. Some of these ‘sound images’ come from dreams, but I’ve also been inspired by sleep as conceptualised in the Jewish faith – that body and soul are two separate parts. Regardless of culture, sleep has always been strongly charged with symbolism. In REMS, I’ve created a dreamy, musical fabric of sound with underlying adornments, some of which come from lullabies. When the dreams subside, we hear breathing – in and out.”

To hear Rimsky-Korsakov’s symphonic Scheherazade suite is to be transported to another world through music. Rimsky-Korsakov was fascinated by the far east and this music is based on the collection of stories called One Thousand and One Nights. In the first movement, “The Sea and Sinbad’s Ship”, we hear the theme of the dominant sultan, which soon transitions to Scheherazade, portrayed by the beautiful violin solo. The final movement, “The Festival at Baghdad; The Sea; Shipwreck on a Rock; Conclusion”, begins with the contrasts between the sultan and Scheherazade. In between, we hear the Kalendar Prince, and the Young Prince and the Young Princess.

In recent years, Spanish conductor Pablo Heras-Casado has become an extremely popular guest with the Royal Stockholm Philharmonic Orchestra. He regularly appears with orchestras such as the Berlin, Vienna and Los Angeles philharmonics, and the London Symphony Orchestra, and is Principal Guest Conductor of Teatro Real in Madrid.

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Konserthuset Play
This concert will be recorded for Konserthuset Play and will be available from Sunday 19 September at 19.00.

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Please note
The concert will take place with an audience of maximum 300 people in the hall. Our ticket system ensures that you and your company (a maximum of eight people) have a distance of at least one meter to other members of the audience.

Information on how Konserthuset ensures a safe visit

Wilhelm Stenhammar is without hesitation one of Sweden’s most significant composers and was one of the foremost Swedish pianists of his time. We are celebrating the 150-year anniversary of Stenhammar’s birth with a large festival. Stenhammar was born in 1871 in Stockholm. His family lived on Kammakargatan, just a few hundred metres from the location at which Konserthuset Stockholm would later be built.

Pianist Martin Sturfält is one of Sweden’s leading experts in Stenhammar’s music. His recordings of both piano concertos have received widespread international acclaim. At this concert, we will hear him with the Royal Stockholm Philharmonic Orchestra in Stenhammar’s original Piano Concerto No. 2, in which soloist and orchestra face off in emotionally charged battles, both with and against one another.

Sometimes composers themselves feel their music does not measure up and one well-known example is Stenhammar’s first symphony. Audiences and critics alike had a positive reaction to its 1903 world premiere. But Stenhammar felt it was impersonal and pompous, and he withdrew it. This decision was connected to Stenhammar’s overwhelming experience of Sibelius’ Symphony No. 2 just a month before the world premiere of his own symphony in Stockholm. Stenhammar wrote to Sibelius: “I have also written a symphony now. At least, it is called a symphony. And according to an agreement, which you have perhaps forgotten, it should be dedicated to you. But this will not come to pass. It is fairly good, but it is superficial. If only I could have accessed something deeper inside.”

Here, we have a chance to form our own perceptions of Stenhammar’s symphony. The Royal Stockholm Philharmonic Orchestra will be led by Patrik Ringborg, an internationally active Swedish conductor who has worked a great deal in Germany. 

Via Konserthuset Play you can hear the first symphony, conducted by Andrew Manze.

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Livestream
The concert on September 23 can be seen at Konserthuset Play. You can also see the concert afterwards from Sunday 3 October at 19.00.

***

Please note
The concert will take place with an audience of maximum 300 people in the hall. Our ticket system ensures that you and your company (a maximum of eight people) have a distance of at least one meter to other members of the audience.

Information on how Konserthuset ensures a safe visit

Wilhelm Stenhammar is without hesitation one of Sweden’s most significant composers and was one of the foremost Swedish pianists of his time. We are celebrating the 150-year anniversary of Stenhammar’s birth with a large festival. Stenhammar was born in 1871 in Stockholm. His family lived on Kammakargatan, just a few hundred metres from the location at which Konserthuset Stockholm would later be built.

Pianist Martin Sturfält is one of Sweden’s leading experts in Stenhammar’s music. His recordings of both piano concertos have received widespread international acclaim. At this concert, we will hear him with the Royal Stockholm Philharmonic Orchestra in Stenhammar’s original Piano Concerto No. 2, in which soloist and orchestra face off in emotionally charged battles, both with and against one another.

Sometimes composers themselves feel their music does not measure up and one well-known example is Stenhammar’s first symphony. Audiences and critics alike had a positive reaction to its 1903 world premiere. But Stenhammar felt it was impersonal and pompous, and he withdrew it. This decision was connected to Stenhammar’s overwhelming experience of Sibelius’ Symphony No. 2 just a month before the world premiere of his own symphony in Stockholm. Stenhammar wrote to Sibelius: “I have also written a symphony now. At least, it is called a symphony. And according to an agreement, which you have perhaps forgotten, it should be dedicated to you. But this will not come to pass. It is fairly good, but it is superficial. If only I could have accessed something deeper inside.”

Here, we have a chance to form our own perceptions of Stenhammar’s symphony. The Royal Stockholm Philharmonic Orchestra will be led by Patrik Ringborg, an internationally active Swedish conductor who has worked a great deal in Germany. 

Via Konserthuset Play you can hear the first symphony, conducted by Andrew Manze.

***

Livestream
The concert on September 23 can be seen at Konserthuset Play. You can also see the concert afterwards from Sunday 3 October at 19.00.

***

Please note
The concert will take place with an audience of maximum 300 people in the hall. Our ticket system ensures that you and your company (a maximum of eight people) have a distance of at least one meter to other members of the audience.

Information on how Konserthuset ensures a safe visit

Wilhelm Stenhammar is without hesitation one of Sweden’s most significant composers and was one of the foremost Swedish pianists of his time. We are celebrating the 150-year anniversary of Stenhammar’s birth with a large festival. Stenhammar was born in 1871 in Stockholm. His family lived on Kammakargatan, just a few hundred metres from the location at which Konserthuset Stockholm would later be built.

In the symphonic overture Excelsior!, we encounter a romantic and passionate Stenhammar at age 25. The melodies are filled with ecstatic, upward-reaching energy – Excelsior means higher, ambitiousness. Conducted by the legendary Arthur Nikisch, the Berlin Philharmonic performed the world premiere of Excelsior! in 1896, the same year Stenhammar composed it.

Stenhammar may have been a pianist, but he had a distinct feel for the expression of a violin. In Two Sentimental Romances for violin and orchestra, we get a taste of his unique ability to create long, melodic string parts that draw the listener into a peaceful, pastoral landscape. This music has the tangible feel of a summer night, where melancholy and happiness go hand in hand. The soloist is the acclaimed young Swedish star violinist Johan Dalene.   

Stenhammar had the idea for the beloved and frequently performed Serenade while visiting Florence in 1907. He wrote in a letter, “I want to write beautifully and tenderly about the south, in a way that only a resident of the north can do.” And indeed he succeeded, for the Serenade is one of his true masterpieces: sensual southern European music presented in Nordic light – playful, lyrical and beautiful.

As a bonus, the entire concert will conclude with Stenhammar’s Violin Sonata. 

The Royal Stockholm Philharmonic Orchestra will be led by Andrew Manze, the internationally acclaimed conductor and violinist who was chief conductor of the Helsingborg Symphony Orchestra from 2006–2014.

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Livestream
The concert on September 30 can be seen at Konserthuset Play. You can also see the concert afterwards on Play.