Christmas gifts

At this festive Epiphany concert, the Royal Stockholm Philharmonic Orchestra is led by English conductor John Wilson. He is an authority in film scores and has reconstructed and arranged many classic soundtracks for concert settings. Since 1994, Wilson has also led his own hand-selected orchestra, which has specialised in film and musicals with great success. 

Classical film scores were in focus when John Wilson led the Royal Stockholm Philharmonic Orchestra last time, at the 2020 Epiphany concert. It was a success, and this time too, the programme includes a blend of alluring film scores and the best from the music world, including music by Erich Wolfgang Korngold, George Gershwin, Cole Porter and Michel Legrand. 

The vocal soloist is American Broadway and West End star Kim Criswell. Her 40-year career has taken her to the major stages all over the world – including classical bastions like La Scala in Milan, Musikverein in Vienna, and the Philharmonie in Berlin.

While this concert is surrounded by tradition, so too is the dance to the sound of a big band in Grünewald Hall afterward. This year, we hear the Johan Stengård Big Band and original arrangements of classic American big band music. 

The Dutch pianist brothers Lucas and Arthur Jussen have a near-telepathic connection, which makes their concerts an extraordinary experience. They grew up in a family of musicians and have been performing together since they were young. Since 2010, they have had an exclusive contract with the label Deutsche Grammophon. 

We hear Stravinsky’s ground-breaking ballet, Rite of Spring, in a version for piano four hands, in which the details momentarily have clearer outlines than in the orchestral version. We also hear Felix Mendelssohn-Bartholdy’s masterful Andante and Allegro Brillant, dedicated to Clara Schumann and composed for a concert in Leipzig, at which they both performed the piece. 

Schubert composed his magnificent Fantasia for piano four hands shortly before his death. It contains sadness and rumination, light and shimmering melodies, and rhythmically aggressive attacks. The Fantasia is dedicated to his beloved, Caroline Esterházy, who did not return his feelings. We also hear an arrangement of Ravel’s whimsical, dramatic, humorous and ironic La Valse.

Felix Mendelssohn-Bartholdy’s Violin Concerto in E minor is among classical music’s priceless masterpieces. He composed it for his childhood friend, violin virtuoso Ferdinand David – and the result was incredibly successful. With its light-hearted airiness and singular melodic beauty, this concerto is one of music history’s most popular pieces in all categories. The soloist is the young Swedish violinist Daniel Lozakovitj.

We also hear music by the unbelievably gifted Romantic composer Franz Schmidt. He studied composition under Bruckner, but also spent fifteen years as a cellist with the Vienna Philharmonic; the orchestra’s conductor, Gustav Mahler, always wanted him to take the solo parts. His flowing and emotional late-Romantic music is played all too infrequently. The influences of Bruckner and Mahler are unmistakable, and the music is also personal and expressive. 

The Royal Stockholm Philharmonic Orchestra is led by Latvian conductor Aivis Greters, assistant conductor of the Gothenburg Opera and Orchestre de Paris. This marks his debut with the Royal Stockholm Philharmonic Orchestra. The previously announced conductor Simone Young was obliged to cancel her performances, and as a result Franz Schmidts Symphony No. 2 has been replaced by Tchaikovsky’s Symphony No 5.

Felix Mendelssohn-Bartholdy’s Violin Concerto in E minor is among classical music’s priceless masterpieces. He composed it for his childhood friend, violin virtuoso Ferdinand David – and the result was incredibly successful. With its light-hearted airiness and singular melodic beauty, this concerto is one of music history’s most popular pieces in all categories. The soloist is the young Swedish violinist Daniel Lozakovitj.

We also hear music by the unbelievably gifted Romantic composer Franz Schmidt. He studied composition under Bruckner, but also spent fifteen years as a cellist with the Vienna Philharmonic; the orchestra’s conductor, Gustav Mahler, always wanted him to take the solo parts. His flowing and emotional late-Romantic music is played all too infrequently. The influences of Bruckner and Mahler are unmistakable, and the music is also personal and expressive. 

The Royal Stockholm Philharmonic Orchestra is led by Latvian conductor Aivis Greters, assistant conductor of the Gothenburg Opera and Orchestre de Paris. This marks his debut with the Royal Stockholm Philharmonic Orchestra. The previously announced conductor Simone Young was obliged to cancel her performances, and as a result Franz Schmidts Symphony No. 2 has been replaced by Tchaikovsky’s Symphony No 5.

Frank Peter Zimmermann is widely acclaimed for his beautifully resonant violin-playing and he is considered one of the foremost violin soloists of our time. He has taken the stage at Konserthuset Stockholm many times before and is a very popular guest. Now we hear him in Stravinsky’s neoclassical and playfully melodic Violin Concerto, in which each movement begins with a sharp chord as if to say: Listen up – it’s starting now!

French composer Florent Schmitt studied at the conservatory in Paris under Jules Massenet and Gabriel Fauré, and was friends with Ravel and Erik Satie. While he gladly took away impressions from everything he came into contact with, his music is very French. The sonically shimmering and La Belle Époque-infused La Tragédie de Salomé was originally intended as a ballet. It was an immediate success.

The opening piece is Finnish Sebastian Hilli’s striking Miracle, and the Royal Stockholm Philharmonic Orchestra will be led by its chief conductor designate, award-winning American Ryan Bancroft. “A dancing conductor bodes well for the musicians,” wrote newspaper SvD after the 2021 Nobel Prize Concert.

Frank Peter Zimmermann is widely acclaimed for his beautifully resonant violin-playing and he is considered one of the foremost violin soloists of our time. He has taken the stage at Konserthuset Stockholm many times before and is a very popular guest. Now we hear him in Stravinsky’s neoclassical and playfully melodic Violin Concerto, in which each movement begins with a sharp chord as if to say: Listen up – it’s starting now!

French composer Florent Schmitt studied at the conservatory in Paris under Jules Massenet and Gabriel Fauré, and was friends with Ravel and Erik Satie. While he gladly took away impressions from everything he came into contact with, his music is very French. The sonically shimmering and La Belle Époque-infused La Tragédie de Salomé was originally intended as a ballet. It was an immediate success.

The opening piece is Finnish Sebastian Hilli’s striking Miracle, and the Royal Stockholm Philharmonic Orchestra will be led by its chief conductor designate, award-winning American Ryan Bancroft. “A dancing conductor bodes well for the musicians,” wrote newspaper SvD after the 2021 Nobel Prize Concert.

A sing-along concert with number games and wonderful music. With help from animated movies and music, we will take a journey of discovery into the world of numbers – which is filled with curiosities. Just think of what happens when you turn the number 9 upside down!

We will hear well-known music such as Hungarian Dance No. 5 by Johannes Brahms, The Silly Song from Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs and songs in both to 2- and 3-time. And composer Molly Kien has written a new piece about the number 8.

Well-known Ayla Kabaca will lead the fun and the sing-along together with the Royal Stockholm Philharmonic Orchestra.

A sing-along concert with number games and wonderful music. With help from animated movies and music, we will take a journey of discovery into the world of numbers – which is filled with curiosities. Just think of what happens when you turn the number 9 upside down!

We will hear well-known music such as Hungarian Dance No. 5 by Johannes Brahms, The Silly Song from Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs and songs in both to 2- and 3-time. And composer Molly Kien has written a new piece about the number 8.

Well-known Ayla Kabaca will lead the fun and the sing-along together with the Royal Stockholm Philharmonic Orchestra.

Canadian violinist James Ehnes has been called the “Jascha Heifetz of our time.” With his unerring musicality and lightning-fast technique, he is a continuously in-demand soloist on the world’s major concert stages, and his recordings have won multiple Grammy and Gramophone Awards. At this concert, we hear him in Edward Elgar’s Violin Concerto, which was an immediate success after the world premiere in 1910. “It is good! Incredibly emotional! Too emotional, but I love it!” he said of his violin concerto. 

Richard Strauss was a great admirer of Richard Wagner. Influenced by Wagner, Strauss abandoned the abstract, classical symphonies and sonatas of his youth and began to compose great tone poems inspired by literature and nature instead. In 1889, he completed the symphonic poem Don Juan, based on the poem by Nikolaus Lenaus, which is in turn based on the Spanish legend of Don Juan.

In addition, we hear music by American composer Paola Prestini for the first time at Konserthuset. Prestini, born in 1975, works with everything from poets and filmmakers to researchers and has become known for her innovative ideas and for crossing the boundaries of genre and uniting discrete disciplines. We hear one of her early works here: Barcarola, from 1996.

Italian Speranza Scappucci conducts this concert. She is a frequent guest at the world’s major opera houses, for example in Vienna, Rome, ​​Zürich, Los Angeles and New York – and now it is time for her debut with the Royal Stockholm Philharmonic Orchestra.

Canadian violinist James Ehnes has been called the “Jascha Heifetz of our time.” With his unerring musicality and lightning-fast technique, he is a continuously in-demand soloist on the world’s major concert stages, and his recordings have won multiple Grammy and Gramophone Awards. At this concert, we hear him in Edward Elgar’s Violin Concerto, which was an immediate success after the world premiere in 1910. “It is good! Incredibly emotional! Too emotional, but I love it!” he said of his violin concerto. 

Richard Strauss was a great admirer of Richard Wagner. Influenced by Wagner, Strauss abandoned the abstract, classical symphonies and sonatas of his youth and began to compose great tone poems inspired by literature and nature instead. In 1889, he completed the symphonic poem Don Juan, based on the poem by Nikolaus Lenaus, which is in turn based on the Spanish legend of Don Juan.

In addition, we hear music by American composer Paola Prestini for the first time at Konserthuset. Prestini, born in 1975, works with everything from poets and filmmakers to researchers and has become known for her innovative ideas and for crossing the boundaries of genre and uniting discrete disciplines. We hear one of her early works here: Barcarola, from 1996.

Italian Speranza Scappucci conducts this concert. She is a frequent guest at the world’s major opera houses, for example in Vienna, Rome, ​​Zürich, Los Angeles and New York – and now it is time for her debut with the Royal Stockholm Philharmonic Orchestra.

With dizzyingly masterful playing and radiant charisma, Leonidas Kavakos is an in-demand soloist on the major concert stages. He regularly performs with the foremost orchestras and has been soloist with the Royal Stockholm Philharmonic Orchestra on several occasions. Chamber music is also close to his heart and in 2017, he took the stage at Konserthuset Stockholm together with pianist Yuja Wang. 

Now we hear him with pianist Enrico Pace, whose career was catapulted when he won the international Franz Liszt Competition in Utrecht in 1989. He often performs with musicians like Leonidas Kavakos and Frank Peter Zimmermann, and as a soloist with the major orchestras in Europe, North America and Asia. 

This concert includes violin sonatas by Beethoven and Bartók. Beethoven’s early Violin Sonata No. 1 is a lively piece that concludes with a playful rondo. Béla Bartók’s Violin Sonata No. 2 is even more rigorous. “Only a violinist of the highest calibre has any chance of learning them,” wrote Bartók in a letter about his violin sonatas. At the same time, the dancing rhythms of Hungarian folk music can be heard, for example in the second movement.

Ravel also took inspiration from other genres in his sonata, specifically jazz and blues. The concert concludes with César Franck’s Sonata in A major. The deep and beautiful harmonies helped make this piece one of his best known and most popular. 

Merregnon: Land of Silence is the story of the orphan Miru, who embarks on an unforgettable adventure with her childhood friend Hikito and the trusty dog Mako. Their goal is to find out what is plaguing the Land of Silence, Merregnon.

Merregnon: Land of Silence is a ”Peter and the Wolf” for the Playstation generation. It is a performance created for families and children, an introduction to the wonder of symphonic sound. 

Merregnon is a fantastical world of its own, painted with beautiful images, captivating melodies and symphonic sounds. The story is by German children’s author Frauke Angel and the music is composed by Yoko Shimomura, one of the most prominent video game music composers of our time. She composed the music for internationally best-selling games like Kingdom Hearts and Final Fantasy XV.

German producer Thomas Böcker is behind the idea. His past endeavours include the incredibly successful concerts of video game music such as Final Symphony and Symphonic Fantasies. He has said that Merregnon: Land of Silence is a symphonic fairy tale of courage, perseverance, solidarity and above all, freedom.

Merregnon is also available on Konserthuset Play: a specially produced concert film from 2021.

Merregnon: Land of Silence is the story of the orphan Miru, who embarks on an unforgettable adventure with her childhood friend Hikito and the trusty dog Mako. Their goal is to find out what is plaguing the Land of Silence, Merregnon.

Merregnon: Land of Silence is a ”Peter and the Wolf” for the Playstation generation. It is a performance created for families and children, an introduction to the wonder of symphonic sound. 

Merregnon is a fantastical world of its own, painted with beautiful images, captivating melodies and symphonic sounds. The story is by German children’s author Frauke Angel and the music is composed by Yoko Shimomura, one of the most prominent video game music composers of our time. She composed the music for internationally best-selling games like Kingdom Hearts and Final Fantasy XV.

German producer Thomas Böcker is behind the idea. His past endeavours include the incredibly successful concerts of video game music such as Final Symphony and Symphonic Fantasies. He has said that Merregnon: Land of Silence is a symphonic fairy tale of courage, perseverance, solidarity and above all, freedom.

Merregnon is also available on Konserthuset Play: a specially produced concert film from 2021.

The Royal Stockholm Philharmonic Orchestra’s Conductor Laureate Alan Gilbert conducted the world premiere of Unsuk Chin’s Frontispiece when he took over as chief conductor of the NDR Elbphilharmonie Orchestra in 2019. Unsuk Chin describes the music as a sort of fast-forwarding through history, in which music from different eras emerges in new forms and blends together. Unsuk Chin was featured at Konserthuset’s 2013 Composer Festival.

Richard Strauss composed many works with his wife Pauline as the source of inspiration – she was a renowned soprano. He was in his 80s when he came upon a poem by Joseph von Eichendorff about an aging couple who, at the end of their lives together, observe the setting sun and ask themselves: “Might this be death?” This inspired him to begin composing a song cycle that was never completed. After Strauss’ death, his publisher put the four completed songs together, naming them Vier letzte Lieder, “Four Last Songs.”

As vocal soloist, we hear the young soprano Christina Nilsson, who confirmed her place on the opera scene with her sensational debut role as Aida with the Royal Swedish Opera in 2018. She has performed with the Royal Stockholm Philharmonic Orchestra several times, most recently at a summer concert in 2019.

Beauty and tranquillity continue in the Pastoral Symphony, in which Beethoven describes life in the countryside in the early nineteenth century. He gave the various movements painterly names: “Awakening of Cheerful Feelings Upon Arrival in the Countryside”, “Scene by the Brook”, “Merry Gathering of Country Folk”, “Thunderstorm” and “Shepherd’s Song”. It is a bright, musical journey through the countryside, with only a storm disrupting the idyllic scene.

The Royal Stockholm Philharmonic Orchestra’s Conductor Laureate Alan Gilbert conducted the world premiere of Unsuk Chin’s Frontispiece when he took over as chief conductor of the NDR Elbphilharmonie Orchestra in 2019. Unsuk Chin describes the music as a sort of fast-forwarding through history, in which music from different eras emerges in new forms and blends together. Unsuk Chin was featured at Konserthuset’s 2013 Composer Festival.

Richard Strauss composed many works with his wife Pauline as the source of inspiration – she was a renowned soprano. He was in his 80s when he came upon a poem by Joseph von Eichendorff about an aging couple who, at the end of their lives together, observe the setting sun and ask themselves: “Might this be death?” This inspired him to begin composing a song cycle that was never completed. After Strauss’ death, his publisher put the four completed songs together, naming them Vier letzte Lieder, “Four Last Songs.”

As vocal soloist, we hear the young soprano Christina Nilsson, who confirmed her place on the opera scene with her sensational debut role as Aida with the Royal Swedish Opera in 2018. She has performed with the Royal Stockholm Philharmonic Orchestra several times, most recently at a summer concert in 2019.

Beauty and tranquillity continue in the Pastoral Symphony, in which Beethoven describes life in the countryside in the early nineteenth century. He gave the various movements painterly names: “Awakening of Cheerful Feelings Upon Arrival in the Countryside”, “Scene by the Brook”, “Merry Gathering of Country Folk”, “Thunderstorm” and “Shepherd’s Song”. It is a bright, musical journey through the countryside, with only a storm disrupting the idyllic scene.

With her charged and elegantly balanced playing, Argentinian Ingrid Fliter is one of the most in-demand pianists on the international classical music scene. She was supposed to have performed at Konserthuset Stockholm last season, but the concert was cancelled due to the pandemic. Now we finally hear her in Mozart’s Piano Concerto No. 23, one of his most played and beloved.

Malin Bång’s music is filled with energy and positively boiling with sonorous power. For her piece Splinters of Ebullient Rebellion, she received both the orchestral prize for best composition at Donaueschingen Music Days, and the Swedish Christ Johnson Prize. A piece commissioned by the Royal Stockholm Philharmonic Orchestra is now being performed at Konserthuset for the first time. 

We also hear Béla Bartók’s vivid Dance Suite, which he composed for the 50-year anniversary of the city of Budapest. He had left his Expressionistic period behind him and chose instead to immerse himself in folk music, but despite the title, this was never intended as music for dancing. The suite consists of six pieces of dreamy folk music with both Arabic influences and imitations of a bagpipe. 

The Royal Stockholm Philharmonic Orchestra plays under the baton of Russian-born conductor Dima Slobodeniouk, who has long been based in Finland.

With her charged and elegantly balanced playing, Argentinian Ingrid Fliter is one of the most in-demand pianists on the international classical music scene. She was supposed to have performed at Konserthuset Stockholm last season, but the concert was cancelled due to the pandemic. Now we finally hear her in Mozart’s Piano Concerto No. 23, one of his most played and beloved.

Malin Bång’s music is filled with energy and positively boiling with sonorous power. For her piece Splinters of Ebullient Rebellion, she received both the orchestral prize for best composition at Donaueschingen Music Days, and the Swedish Christ Johnson Prize. A piece commissioned by the Royal Stockholm Philharmonic Orchestra is now being performed at Konserthuset for the first time. 

We also hear Béla Bartók’s vivid Dance Suite, which he composed for the 50-year anniversary of the city of Budapest. He had left his Expressionistic period behind him and chose instead to immerse himself in folk music, but despite the title, this was never intended as music for dancing. The suite consists of six pieces of dreamy folk music with both Arabic influences and imitations of a bagpipe. 

The Royal Stockholm Philharmonic Orchestra plays under the baton of Russian-born conductor Dima Slobodeniouk, who has long been based in Finland.

Argentinian pianist Ingrid Fliter drew the interest of the world in 2006, when she won the Gilmore Artist Award, which only a handful of pianists have done. She was also the first ever female musician to win the award. She has performed at Konserthuset Stockholm before, but now for the first time, we hear her in her own recital.

Fliter has been praised for her recordings of Beethoven’s best-known sonatas. Here she tackles music by Robert Schumann. To begin with the crystal clear and sweet ”childhood scenes”, Kinderzenen, followed by his imaginative Sonata in G minor – which Clara Schumann “very much looked forward to” her husband Robert completing. 

We also hear Schumann’s Symphonic Etudes, one of the most striking and diverse piano pieces of the nineteenth century. It is magnificent and virtuosic, and demonstrates the power of the piano and potential of the full orchestra in every way. The pieces are structured as variations, most based on a theme by Baron von Fricken, an amateur flute player whose daughter Schumann had a love affair with before falling madly in love with Clara, whom he married.

Naturally, we have a Norwegian theme on our dear neighbour’s National Day. A natural inclusion is Edvard Grieg’s enormously popular piano concerto; this music for spring also contains numerous hints of Norwegian folk music. Soloist Anna Christensson has great musical breadth with a repertoire that includes classics and less familiar pieces alike, as well as the absolute latest of the avant-garde – for example, she is a member of the Curious Chamber Players. 

This Norwegian programme also includes Pauline Hall’s magical Verlaine Suite. Composer and music critic Pauline Hall was a major name in music in Norway. She was a great advocate of the music of her day as well as founder and chairperson of the association Ny Musikk. To truly get into the festive mood, the programme concludes with the Norwegian Festival Overture by Johan Halvorsen. Halvorsen is perhaps primarily associated with music for the theatre, and carried out an important deed by making recordings of Norwegian folk music. 

The orchestra is led by Marie Rosenmir, who has performed with the Royal Stockholm Philharmonic Orchestra many times since her debut in 2010. She is a versatile musician with a background as an opera singer and organ player. She has conducted all of Sweden’s major symphony orchestras and has led numerous performances at the top opera houses. 

No other individual work has had the same crucial significance for the music of our time as Stravinsky’s Rite of Spring. Its world premiere in 1913 in Paris is one of the most spectacular scandals in music history. The audience booed and screamed, Stravinsky was furious and left the venue. No, artistic innovation is not always received with open arms, but as everything matures with time, music that was initially met with resistance can evolve into a revered part of the repertoire – as with Rite of Spring, a modern classic. 

The Royal Stockholm Philharmonic Orchestra is led in a masterful sampling of orchestral literature by its chief conductor designate, award-winning American Ryan Bancroft. “A dancing conductor bodes well for the musicians,” wrote newspaper SvD after the 2021 Nobel Prize Concert.

In the final of the 24 Caprices for Solo Violin, the demonic violinist Nicolò Paganini created a theme that has always fascinated audiences and inspired other composers. Sergei Rachmaninoff took advantage of the possibilities of the theme when he composed his virtuosic and at times inconceivably beautiful variations for piano and orchestra. 

The soloist is Italian Beatrice Rana, who has been praised by audiences and critics alike and is a regular soloist on the world’s major stages. She debuted with the Royal Stockholm Philharmonic Orchestra in January 2020 with Tchaikovsky’s Piano Concerto No. 1. It is with great joy that we welcome her back. 

No other individual work has had the same crucial significance for the music of our time as Stravinsky’s Rite of Spring. Its world premiere in 1913 in Paris is one of the most spectacular scandals in music history. The audience booed and screamed, Stravinsky was furious and left the venue. No, artistic innovation is not always received with open arms, but as everything matures with time, music that was initially met with resistance can evolve into a revered part of the repertoire – as with Rite of Spring, a modern classic. 

The Royal Stockholm Philharmonic Orchestra is led in a masterful sampling of orchestral literature by its chief conductor designate, award-winning American Ryan Bancroft. “A dancing conductor bodes well for the musicians,” wrote newspaper SvD after the 2021 Nobel Prize Concert.

In the final of the 24 Caprices for Solo Violin, the demonic violinist Nicolò Paganini created a theme that has always fascinated audiences and inspired other composers. Sergei Rachmaninoff took advantage of the possibilities of the theme when he composed his virtuosic and at times inconceivably beautiful variations for piano and orchestra. 

The soloist is Italian Beatrice Rana, who has been praised by audiences and critics alike and is a regular soloist on the world’s major stages. She debuted with the Royal Stockholm Philharmonic Orchestra in January 2020 with Tchaikovsky’s Piano Concerto No. 1. It is with great joy that we welcome her back.