Göteborgs Konserthus Hannigan sings John Zorn

Olivier Messiaen (1908-1992) Chants de Terre et de Ciel -Bail avec Mi (for my wife) -Antienne du silence (tfor the day of the guardian angels) -Danse du bébé-pilule (for my little Pascal) -Arc-en-ciel d'innocence (for my little Pascal) -Minuit pile et face (for death) -Résurrection (for Easter Day) The influential composer Olivier Messiaen wrote lyrics and music for “Songs to Earth and Heaven.” It is an early work that captures the joy of his newborn son in 1937. Like its sister work, Poèmes pour Mi, dedicated to his wife Claire, it blends religious performance with personal experience. Barbara Hannigan and Bertrand Chamayou recorded the work in 2024. “The superb projection of Hannigan’s voice and the rainbow of colours in Chamayou’s piano lay bare the sexual desire and religious fervour”, The Guardian wrote. The rarely performed work is now being performed at Gothenburg Concert Hall for the first time.

Alexander Scriabin was born in Moscow and is one of the most visionary composers of the turn of the century. His music moves from the expression of late Romanticism to an increasingly boundless, mystical world of sound, in which he sought to unite music, color and spirituality. Poème nocturne (1911), the fourth piece in the suite Quatre poèmes pour piano, Op 61, was composed during a period when his music had completely freed itself from traditional tonal thinking. The compositions at this time were characterized by the so-called “mystical chords”, a shimmering sound field that replaces traditional harmony. Despite the title, the piece is not quiet night music, but rather an ecstatic vision of spiritual enlightenment and transformation. In the rhythmically free structure and the flowing harmonies, the idea of music as a means to ecstasy and transcendence is sensed. The work finally culminates in a brilliant climax where light and darkness merge, one of Scriabin's most enigmatic and hypnotic moments. Andreas Konvicka

Vers la flamme (Towards the Flame) is one of Scriabin's most visionary piano works, written just a year before his death in 1914. The title refers to the all-consuming fire, both as a physical force and as a spiritual symbol. The work is an intense, ecstatic journey towards the light, born from an apocalyptic vision that struck Scriabin during a train journey. "Fire, cosmic flames, whose vibrations, like sounds and colors, were destined to unite and fuse together in the final flame of the universe." The music embodies this transformation, and is a concentrate of Scriabin's late style in which the tonal center is dissolved. From a quiet, almost hypnotic haze, the notes flare up in ever denser rhythms and glowing harmonies, until the entire sound world seems to be consumed in light. In the last bars, the music seems to literally burn up, an explosion of light that closes his creative circle. Andreas Konvicka

John Zorn (b 1953) Jumalattaret Proem—opening invocation, 1. Päivätär (sun goddess), 2. Vedenemo (mother of waters), 3. Akka (queen of the ancient magic), 4. Louhi (hostess of the underworld), 5. Mielikki (the huntress) , 6. Kuu (moon goddess), 7. Tellervo (forest spirit), 8. Ilmatar (air spirit), 9. Vellamo (goddess of the sea) - Postlude Using pieces of texts from the epic Finnish tale the Kalevala, Jumalattaret (2012) is a song cycle in praise of nine Finnish Goddesses out of Sami Shamanism: Päivätär, goddess of summer-Vedenemo, the mother of waters-Akka, goddess of the underworld-Louhi, a powerful witch and shapeshifter-Mielikki, the goddess of the hunt-Kuu, the moon goddess-Tellervo, goddess of forests-Ilmatar the virgin spirit of air-Vellamo, the goddess of water. The music uses a variety of musical techniques and genres, and moves from lyrical folk-like simplicity to more complex atonal and textural pyrotechnics.

Soprano and conductor Barbara Hannigan is Principal Guest Conductor of the Gothenburg Symphony since 2019. Embodying music with an unparalleled dramatic sensibility, Barbara Hannigan's pioneering work was rewarded with the Polar Muisc Prize 2025. Her artistic colleagues include John Zorn, Krszysztof Warlikowski, Simon Rattle, Sasha Waltz, Kent Nagano, Vladimir Jurowski, Andreas Kriegenburg, Andris Nelsons, Esa Pekka Salonen, Christoph Marthaler, Antonio Pappano, Katie Mitchell, and Kirill Petrenko. The late conductor and pianist Reinbert de Leeuw has been an extraordinary influence and inspiration on her development as a musician. The Grammy Award winning Canadian musician has shown a profound commitment to the music of our time and has given the world première performances of nearly 100 new creations. Hannigan has collaborated extensively with composers including Boulez, Zorn, Dutilleux, Ligeti, di Castri, Stockhausen, Khayam, Sciarrino, Barry, Dusapin, Dean, Benjamin and Abrahamsen. A passionate musician of unique and courageous choices, Hannigan is renowned for creating innovative orchestral programs, combining new and older repertoire. In recent years she has been conducting world class orchestras including the Concertgebouw and Cleveland Orchestras, Montreal Symphony, Rome's Accademmia Nazionale di Santa Cecilia, has ongoing relationships with festivals including Aix en Provence and Spoleto, and has had starring soprano roles on opera stages including London's Covent Garden, Teatro San Carlo in Naples, Paris Opera's Palais Garnier, New York's Lincoln Center, and the opera houses of Berlin, Hamburg and Munich. The past few seasons have brought a new presentation of Poulenc's opera La Voix Humaine, and recent world premieres include Golfam Khayam's I am not a tale to be told with Iceland Symphony Orchestra, John Zorn's Split the Lark and Star Catcher, Zosha di Castri's In the Half Light with the Toronto and Montreal Symphony Orchestras, new works by Sandström and Sciarrino, and a project with pianists Katia and Marielle Labeque inspired by the life and music of Hildegard von Bingen with new music from David Chalmin and Bryce Dessner. In the 2024-2025 season with the Gothenburg Symphony she performed the program Americana, which depicts USA in the making, as well as Mozart's Requiem and Berg's Violin Concerto with Veronica Eberle. She performed chamber music by Schönberg, Fauré and Chausson. She also guested London Symphony, Munich Philharmonic, Orchestre Philharmonique de Radio France, Danish Radio Symphony Orchestra, Iceland Symphony, l'Orchestre de Chambre de Lausanne and Kollegium Musicum WInterthur. In 2026 she will take the helm of Iceland Symphony Orchestra as their chief conductor and artistic director. Barbara’s commitment to the younger generation of musicians led her to create the mentoring initiatives Equilibrium Young Artists (2017), and Momentum: our Future Now (2020), both initiatives offering both guidance and performing opportunities to young professional artists. She was recently named the Reinbert de Leeuw Professor of Music at London's Royal Academy of Music and has been visiting professor at the Juilliard School in New York. On record, Barbara Hannigan’s fruitful relationship with Alpha Classics began in 2017 with the release of Crazy Girl Crazy, winning a Grammy and a Juno. More critically-acclaimed recordings followed, including Vienna: fin de siècle with pianist Reinbert de Leeuw, La Passione featuring works by Nono, Haydn and Grisey and Infinite Voyage, joining her colleagues of the Emerson String Quartet. In 2024 she released the ecstatic vocal works of Messiaen with pianist Bertrand Chamayou and a live recording of John Zorn’s compositions with pianist Stephen Gosling. Barbara Hannigan resides in Finistère, on the northwest coast of France.

Bertrand Chamayou has been called “the French prince of piano” and is recognized for powerfully virtuosic and imaginative performances. His repertoire includes the complete piano works of Ravel, as well as major works by Liszt and Messiaen. He has worked with composers such as Pierre Boulez, Henri Dutilleux, György Kurtág, Thomas Adès, Bryce Dessner and Michael Jarrell. In the 2025-2026 season, he participates in the Lucerne Festival with the Netherlands Philharmonic in Unsuk Chin’s piano concerto and in his own Festival Ravel in Saint-Jean-de-Luz. Major engagements include the Orchestre National de France, the Orchestre Philharmonique de Radio France and the Orchestre National du Capitole de Toulouse in the Turangalîla Symphony. He will perform with Esa-Pekka Salonen and the Danish National Symphony Orchestra, the Singapore Symphony Orchestra under Pierre Bleuse, the Antwerp Symphony Orchestra, the Philharmonia Orchestra and the BBC Symphony Orchestra. He is also touring with Leif Ove Andsnes at the launch of their new album. He is a highly regarded chamber musician and his partners include renowned artists such as Sol Gabetta, Barbara Hannigan, Vilde Frang and Renaud and Gautier Capuçon. For his recording of Saint-Saëns’ piano concertos, he was awarded the Gramophone Recording of the Year Award 2019. He has won France’s prestigious Victoires de la Musique on five occasions. Bertrand Chamayou made his first appearance with the Gothenburg Symphony Orchestra in 2019 in Saint-Saëns’ Piano Concerto No. 2.