Göteborgs Konserthus A sweet union of beauty and chaos

Anna Thorvaldsdottir (b 1977) Metacosmos Icelandic composer Anna Thorvaldsdottir has a place of her own among today's composers. In her music, sounds and nuances, harmonies and lyrics form an ecological whole. Each part is dependent on all other parts and on the whole. Each part is taken up and developed by the fellow musicians. The details are part of a larger structure. All this means that her music feels so organic and natural, something that has also been widely recognized around the world by leading orchestras and festivals. She was Composer in Residence at the Iceland Symphony Orchestra 2018-2023 and teaches at several music schools, including the Royal Academy of Music in London. In 2012, she received the Nordic Council's music prize. Metacosmos was commissioned by the New York Philharmonic and premiered on April 4, 2018 with Esa-Pekka Salonen conducting. In a comment, the composer believes that the work is constructed as a natural balance between beauty and chaos where the elements can be united in chaos to create a common whole. The inspiration comes as much from man himself as from the universe, about the feeling of falling into a black hole - the unknown - where countless constellations and layers of contradictory forces communicate with each other, expand and contract. But this is not something she tries to describe in her music - it is a matter of the music's own powers.

Helen Grime (b 1981) Trumpet concert night-sky-blue Scottish composer Helen Grime has been celebrated for her innovative, dynamic use of the solo trumpet in Concerto for Trumpet and Orchestra “night-sky-blue” (2022). She created this work specifically for Håkan Hardenberger, to highlight the versatility of the trumpet beyond its traditional fanfare and heroic appearance. As composition models, she has Claude Debussy, Olivier Messiaen and the American master of complexity, Elliott Carter, with whom she also studied. The concerto consists of a single movement, divided into a series of linked sections. The work's subtitle, night-sky-blue, is taken from the poem Blue Heron by the English poet Fiona Benson (2019). Benson's lines describe, among other things, a night sky blue heron in flight towards the sky. Grime often draws inspiration from photos and literature, so also this time from a book of nature photographs taken after dark. The fascinating, mysterious and metamorphosing nightlife is reflected in the music, which is in a state of constant transformation. “should the blue heron lift from the tightening shallows there will be love, release; look now at the white stars falling, the night-sky-blue of heron, rising.”

Richard Wagner (1813-1883) Prelude from Tristan and Isolde Richard Wagner's inspiration and text for the musical drama Tristan und Isolde, which was completed in 1859, is based on the chivalric novel of the same name. In the three acts of the opera, Wagner has used the most central and dramatic episodes of the verse novel: the flare-up of forbidden love between Tristan and Isolde with a love potion as a torch. The revelation of Isolde's future consort King Marks during the two lovers' love meeting and finally the death scene, where Tristan dies from a sword cut and Isolde joins him in death. Wagner followed his source faithfully, but created a far more complicated and penetrating psychological drama with deep romantic symbolism. In the prelude there are two central motifs from the opera, unfulfilled longing and ecstatic love. Escalations, highlights and sensualism in an innovative harmony that would form a school for many 20th century composers.

Jean Sibelius (1865-1957) Symphony No 7 Adagio Vivacissimo Allegro molto moderato Carl Nielsen wrote six symphonies, his equally old colleague Jean Sibelius wrote seven. It seems as if Sibelius planned Symphonies Nos. 5, 6 and 7 in one big sweep. But during the patience-testing work of writing down the visions in detail, the material developed in a different way than he intended. We know from his letters that he planned the Seventh Symphony as a three-movement symphony to end with a "Hellenic rondo". But he gave it a lot of thought and determined that "as regards Symphony Nos. 6 and 7, I may change my plans, depending on how the ideas develop. As always, I am a slave to my themes and must submit to their demands." The Seventh Symphony was ultimately given only one movement. He first mentioned his work in December 1917, but it was not until March 2, 1924 that the 20-minute symphony was completed. When the music was first performed by Stockholm's Konsertförening on March 24, it was called "Fantasia sinfonica". He conducted himself and the next day wrote home to his wife Aino: "Yesterday concert with great success. My new work is probably one of my best." Although the work has a single unbroken movement, several well-defined parts can be found in the structure. It begins with an adagio in which Sibelius presents a variety of contrasting motifs which, over time, come to play important roles. Then the strings gather for a passage he called "Hymn", after which the music becomes more energetic and restless in a vivacissimo. This storm dies down and a scherzo-like allegro molto moderato leads us into a world of happiness. The trombone leads us into the epilogue and a clearly brilliant ending. One might associate it with bright summer nights, pine trees and roaring rapids - but Sibelius was probably only inspired by music's own inherent power.

The Gothenburg Symphony was formed in 1905 and today consists of 109 musicians. The orchestra's base is Göteborgs Konserthus, the funk gem at Götaplatsen that has gathered music lovers since 1935. Since the 2017-2018 season, Santtu-Matias Rouvali has been Chief conductor of the Gothenburg Symphony. Since the 2019-2020 season, Barbara Hannigan is Principal guest conductor. We are also a proud partner of Barbara Hannigan's Equilibrium mentoring program focusing on young singers at the start of their careers. Wilhelm Stenhammar was the orchestra's chief conductor from 1907 to 1922. He gave the orchestra a strong Nordic profile and invited colleagues Carl Nielsen and Jean Sibelius to the orchestra. Under the direction of conductor Neeme Järvi from 1982-2004, the orchestra made a series of international tours as well as a hundred disc recordings and established themselves among Europe's leading orchestras. In 1996, the Swedish Riksdag appointed the Gothenburg Symphony as Sweden's National Orchestra. In recent decades, the orchestra has had prominent chief conductors such as Mario Venzago and Gustavo Dudamel, following Kent Nagano as Principal Guest conductor. Anna-Karin Larsson is CEO and artistic director, Gustavo Dudamel honorary conductor and Neeme Järvi chief conductor emeritus. The orchestra's owner is the Västra Götaland Region. The Gothenburg Symphony works regularly with conductors such as Herbert Blomstedt, Joana Carneiro, Jukka-Pekka Saraste, Christian Zacharias and Anja Bihlmaier.

Tabita Berglund has gained reputation for her alert, charismatic and inspiring style. She is Principal Guest Conductor Designate of Detroit Symphony Orchestra, effective from the 2024 season, and in 2025 she becomes Principal Guest Conductor of Dresdner Philharmonie. She concluded her three-year tenure as Principal Guest Conductor of Kristiansand Symphony Orchestra at the end of 2023-2024. Symphonic highlights of last seaon included Berglund’s debuts with Dallas Symphony Orchestra, Swedish Radio Symphony Orchestra, Berner Symphonieorchester, Orchestre National de Lyon, Philharmonia Orchestra, City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra, BBC Scottish Symphony, Dresdner Philharmonie and Düsseldorfer Symphoniker. Working together again with Philharmonia Orchestra, Berglund made her Garsington Opera debut in Summer 2024 conducting a revival production of Mozart’s Le nozze di Figaro. Forthcoming appearances in 2024-2025 include returns to Detroit Symphony Orchestra for her inaugural two weeks as Principal Guest, Dresdner Philharmonie, Orchestre National de Lyon, Tonkünstler-Orchester Niederösterreich, Royal Stockholm Philharmonic Orchestra and Trondheim Symphony Orchestra, as well as debuts with Gothenburg Symphony, Lahti Symphony Orchestra, Iceland Symphony Orchestra, Orchestre de Chambre de Paris, Minnesota Orchestra and Houston Symphony. Berglund also makes her Asian debut with Tokyo Metropolitan Symphony Orchestra in November 2024. Berglund regularly collaborates with internationally-renowned soloists such as Jean-Yves Thibaudet, Leila Josefowicz, Truls Mørk, Pekka Kuusisto, Cédric Tiberghien, Alexander Malofeev, Camilla Tilling and the Jussen Brothers. Berglund graduated in 2019 from the Orchestral Conducting Masters course at the Norwegian Academy of Music, where she studied under Professor Ole Kristian Ruud. She originally trained as a cellist and studied to Master’s degree level under Truls Mørk.

Håkan Hardenberger has a 40-year career as one of the world's most prominent trumpet players. He has inspired countless composers and other musicians to explore uncharted musical territories. Hardenberger performs regularly with the world's leading orchestras such as the Berliner Philharmoniker, Vienna Philharmonic, Gewandhausorchester Leipzig, Bavarian Radio Symphony Orchestra, Concertgebouw Orchestra, London Symphony Orchestra, Boston Symphony Orchestra and NHK Symphony Orchestra. Conductors he collaborates with include Marin Alsop, Alan Gilbert, Daniel Harding, Susanne Mälkki, Ingo Metzmacher, Andris Nelsons, Sakari Oramo and Sir Simon Rattle. Works written for Håkan Hardenberger stand as cornerstones of a large repertoire and include pieces by Sir Harrison Birtwistle, Brett Dean, Helen Grime, HK Gruber, Hans Werner Henze, Betsy Jolas, György Ligeti, Olga Neuwirth, Toru Takemitsu, Mark-Anthony Turnage, Rolf Wallin and Jörg Widmann. In the 2023-2024 season, Hardenberger played the British premiere of Jörg Widmann's Towards Paradise with the London Symphony Orchestra, the Swedish premiere with the Royal Philharmonic, followed by the Finnish premiere with the Helsinki Philharmonic. As playing conductor, he returned to Camerata Nordica and made his debut at Megaron, Athens' concert hall with the Ergonensemble. He was a featured artist with the London Symphony Orchestra and performed Betsy Jola's Histoire Vraies with Sir Simon Rattle and premiered Grime's concert in Germany and Denmark. Hardenberger often performs in duo with pianist Roland Pöntinen and percussionist Colin Currie. With the latter, Hardenberger released a recording of duo works by, among others, Brett Dean and André Jolivet. The latest addition to his prolific discography at BIS includes French Trumpet Concertos by Jolivet, Schmitt and Tomasi, as well as Jola's Onze Lieder. From 2016 to 2018, Hardenberger was artistic director of the Malmö Chamber Music Festival. He is also a professor at the Malmö Conservatory.