Programme

Icelandic Víkingur Ólafsson is currently one of the world's most acclaimed and sought-after pianists. The New York Times coined him ”Iceland's Glenn Gould”, and his recordings are showered with five-star reviews. This season, he is the Artist-in-Residence at Konserthuset Stockholm.

Following the success of Bach's Goldberg Variations, which he performed to a full house here at Konserthuset last season, he takes on more of the classical music world’s great Bs – Brahms and Beethoven. A few days before this concert, he  performs Beethoven’s late piano sonatas in a solo recital. Last autumn, he played Brahms' first piano concerto, and now Beethoven’s Emperor Concerto with the Royal Stockholm Philharmonic Orchestra.

When Beethoven moved to Vienna, it was as a pianist that he first made his breakthrough. Audiences were captivated by his dazzling technique and improvisational skill. At the heart of his piano output are the five magnificent piano concertos, with the Emperor Concerto being the fifth. The title Emperor Concerto refers to the majestic first movement, which begins with powerful orchestral chords and virtuosic arpeggios and runs spanning the entire keyboard.

French conductor Stéphane Denève also leads the Royal Stockholm Philharmonic Orchestra in American Stacy Garrop's beautiful Penelope Waits from 2013, inspired by Greek mythology, and mythological music with dance themes by Paul Dukas and Richard Strauss.

Through Konserthuset’s popular organ matinée subscription, audiences get to hear Sweden’s leading organists play the building’s organ – one of the largest in Europe, with 6,100 pipes.  

Tobias Olofsson has been working as an organist in Nylöse parish in Gothenburg since 2003, where he also obtained his organist degree from the Academy of Music and Drama. Olofsson regularly performs concerts as an organ soloist, as well as in collaboration with symphony orchestras. He is also active as a pianist, accompanist, and arranger.

He begins with Prelude and Fugue in A minor, one of Bach's most beloved and performed organ works. It features explosive drama and breathtaking virtuosity, with the fugue possessing an almost dance-like character. We also hear music by Elfrida Andrée, a pioneering figure in Swedish music. Andrée composed a series of works for organ, including the evocative and melodic Cantilena.

As a contrast, Tobias Olofsson plays well-known themes from Star Wars and Piazzolla's evocative Oblivion and Libertango. He concludes with his own piece titled Improvisation, Passacaglia and Fugue in G minor.

***

The bar is open before and after the concert.

You are welcome to eat or drink something before or after the organ concert. The bar in the Main Foyer is open at 11.45–12.15 and 13.15–14.15, offering a variety of delicious food and drinks in our beautiful surroundings.

Icelandic Víkingur Ólafsson is currently one of the world's most acclaimed and sought-after pianists. The New York Times coined him ”Iceland's Glenn Gould”, and his recordings are showered with five-star reviews. This season, he is the Artist-in-Residence at Konserthuset Stockholm.

Following the success of Bach's Goldberg Variations, which he performed to a full house here at Konserthuset last season, he takes on more of the classical music world’s great Bs – Brahms and Beethoven. A few days before this concert, he  performs Beethoven’s late piano sonatas in a solo recital. Last autumn, he played Brahms' first piano concerto, and now Beethoven’s Emperor Concerto with the Royal Stockholm Philharmonic Orchestra.

When Beethoven moved to Vienna, it was as a pianist that he first made his breakthrough. Audiences were captivated by his dazzling technique and improvisational skill. At the heart of his piano output are the five magnificent piano concertos, with the Emperor Concerto being the fifth. The title Emperor Concerto refers to the majestic first movement, which begins with powerful orchestral chords and virtuosic arpeggios and runs spanning the entire keyboard.

French conductor Stéphane Denève also leads the Royal Stockholm Philharmonic Orchestra in American Stacy Garrop's beautiful Penelope Waits from 2013, inspired by Greek mythology, and mythological music with dance themes by Paul Dukas and Richard Strauss.

Following his success in October 2024, when Adnan Karim had the audience spellbound at a sold-out performance, he now returns to Stockholm with a new show. This time he presents a captivating journey of love, filled with deeply moving music and poetry.

Adnan Karim, who is among the most prominent traditional Kurdish singers, depicts the many dimensions of love with musical elegance that is simultaneously modern and timeless. His music is deeply rooted in Kurdish culture and inspired by classical poetry, weaving themes of love, philosophy and history into every melody.

He is led on stage by the Hezaravaz Ensemble and the brilliant composer Azad Mirzapour. Together, they create a fusion of traditional Kurdish and Persian melodies with a modern flair, and use instruments such as the oud, tar and santur to present a unique experience.

Join us for this unforgettable evening and experience music that touches both heart and soul.

Konserthuset Stockholm at Hötorget is one of Sweden’s great architectural masterpieces. Created during a period of expansion in Stockholm, by the Swedish architect Ivar Tengbom, it opened in 1926. Konserthuset Stockholm was built for the Royal Stockholm Philharmonic Orchestra and has since the start been the dedicated venue for the Nobel Prize Award Ceremony as well as many other prestigious events.

• The guided tour is held in Swedish.
• Maximum 25 persons/tour.

***

Subtitles
Subtitles in English and Swedish is activated by using the CC control in the video player.

The Gothenburg Symphony Orchestra visits Konserthuset under the baton of its Chief Conductor Santtu-Matias Rouvali. They are joined by the celebrated Canadian pianist Jan Lisiecki, internationally acclaimed by both audiences and critics for his beautiful touch and boundless virtuosity.

Together, they present Frédéric Chopin's beloved First Piano Concerto. For Chopin, the piano always took centre stage. His nocturnes, études, mazurkas, polonaises, and impromptus have captivated listeners ever since he charmed audiences in the salons of Paris, or at the few concerts he gave during his all-too-short life. The orchestra plays a subordinate role even in the piano concerto – it is the soloist who shines with imaginative passages, beautiful bel canto melodies, and swirling dances.

Regarding what would become his final symphony, Tchaikovsky wrote in a letter to his brother Anatoly: "I am now completely absorbed in the new work and find it difficult to tear myself away from it. I believe it will be one of my best works. I must finish it as soon as possible." The symphony indeed became one of the great musical masterpieces, filled with profound darkness and exalted beauty.

Elfrida Andrée was an organist, conductor, and composer, pioneering the way for future generations of women in music. She was a student of Ludvig Norman and Niels W. Gade, and her romantically shimmering piano quartet in the spirit of Schumann and Mendelssohn-Bartholdy was premiered in 1870 at Gade's home in Copenhagen.

During his time, Mozart was also a pioneer. The influential Cramer's music magazine wrote that he had ”a decided inclination towards the difficult and the unusual”. That's not how we perceive Mozart today. The captivatingly beautiful and imaginative String Quintet in C major is an undisputed masterpiece. Mozart seemingly composed it on his own initiative, without any commission and solely out of pure expressive will. Initially, we hear Rolf Martinsson's thoughtful and exploratory Duo for violin and cello from 1986.

We hear a quintet from the Royal Stockholm Philharmonic Orchestra together with guesting pianist Martin Sturfält.

Welcome to a dazzling, quick-paced and fun concert of 300 fantastic choral singers from VocalHouse! Hear the best pop songs of yesterday and today in these specially composed arrangements, alternating a cappella pieces with songs accompanied by our outstanding, swinging live band.

The big choir consists of several smaller choirs singing individually and together – and surrounding the audience with sound, rhythm and harmonies in a truly spectacular music experience.

VocalHouse has existed for 12 years and has performed countless concerts around Stockholm. We now welcome them to Konserthuset Stockholm for the first time! Come and share this evening with us!

At the season's final lied concert, two singers perform: soprano Miah Persson and baritone Arvid Eriksson. The program combines classical German lieder with Swedish songs.

Miah Persson is a renowned performer at the world's leading opera houses and is also very active in concert settings. She has appeared with the Royal Stockholm Philharmonic Orchestra on numerous occasions and has also presented several romance concerts before, most recently in 2021 featuring songs by Stenhammar.

The young Swedish baritone Arvid Eriksson has had mentors such as Anne Sofie von Otter and Peter Mattei. Among well-known song cycles he has performed are Robert Schumann's Dichterliebe and Mahler's Rückert-Lieder, but closest to his heart is Swedish songs and composers like Stenhammar, Rangström, and Peterson-Berger.

Magnus Svensson is the artistic director of Konserthuset’s Lied concerts. In addition to concerts in the Nordic region and elsewhere in Europe, he has also performed in Russia and the US. Since 2012, he has also worked at the Royal Swedish Academy of Music with re-publishing older Swedish music.

Finnish-Swedish Moses Pergament (1893–1977) was a prominent and well-known figure in the music scene, active both as a composer and as a music critic for Svenska Dagbladet, but sadly now largely forgotten. He was born into an Orthodox Jewish family in Helsinki but moved to Stockholm in his twenties.

The Jewish Song was composed towards the end of the Second World War, while the Holocaust was still ongoing and becoming increasingly revealed. The texts are taken from two of Ragnar Josephson's poetry collections from the early 1900s: Kedjan (”The Chain”) and Jewish Poems. There, Pergament found ”the feelings of a true Jew. Not a contemptible nationalism, but a liberating sense of solidarity, even in the greatest suffering”. The work has been called a choral symphony, but in his biography of Pergament (2016), Carl-Gunnar Åhlén argues that symphonic song cycle would be a better description.

This is masterful, overwhelming, and emotionally impactful music that over the years has sadly been neglected. The only recording available is from 1974 – with the Royal Stockholm Philharmonic Orchestra, soloists, and choir conducted by James DePreist. It was also the Royal Stockholm Philharmonic Orchestra that premiered The Jewish Song in its entirety in 1947, after various planned performances had been delayed for years, probably due to political anxiety – even after the defeat of Nazi Germany.

Here, the Royal Stockholm Philharmonic Orchestra and the Eric Ericson Chamber Choir are led by Tobias Ringborg, and as soloists, we hear singers Agneta Eichenholz and the Norwegian Kjetil Støa.