FOCUS SOVIET: SHOSTAKOVICH, PROKOFIEV, MOSOLOV

Event has already taken place. Gothenburg Symphony Orchestra, Santtu-Matias Rouvali, conductor, Fumiaki Miura, violin

Concert length: 2 h incl. intermission Stage: Stora salen

330-490 SEKStudent 165-245 SEK

Event has already taken place

This evening’s concert stands on the shoulders of giants – unforgettable music from an unforgettable time, performed by the Gothenburg Symphony, led by Santtu-Matias Rouvali.

Plenty of fantastic music was composed in the former Soviet Union, but many composers had problems with those in power. One of them was Shostakovich. The virtuose violin concerto was composed in 1948, but didn’t premiere until 1955, two years after Stalin’s death. At the Gothenburg Concert Hall, the violin soloist is Japanese rising star Fumiaki Miura.

Prokofiev also had to learn to navigate Stalin’s strict cultural climate. His fifth symphony – he wrote seven – was created after the Second World War, and is a real highlight: virtuose, powerful and daring. Prokofiev didn’t want to get on the wrong side of Stalin, so he made the symphony both melodic and grandiose.

Alexander Mosolov’s motorically driving and industry-mimicking Iron Foundry was pioneering when it premiered in 1926. But Mosolov soon got on the wrong side of the Soviet Union’s culture politicians, and was excluded from the Composers’ Association and put in prison in Gulag shortly thereafter. Following his liberation, he was a shadow of his former self, and his music remained anonymous.

Concert Introduction

Free introduction with musicians from the orchestra in the Stora Salen Hall one hour before the start of the concert.

Programme

Mosolov Iron Foundry3 min

Shostakovich Violin Concerto No 136 min

Intermission25 min

Prokofjev Symphony No 545 min

Participants

Hailed by The Guardian as "the latest sit-up-and-listen talent to emerge from the great Finnish conducting tradition," the 2018/19 season will see Santtu-Matias Rouvali continuing his positions as Chief Conductor of the Gothenburg Symphony and Principal Guest Conductor of the Philharmonia Orchestra, alongside his longstanding Chief Conductor-ship with the Tampere Philharmonic Orchestra close to his home in Finland. Rouvali has regular relationships with several orchestras across Europe, including the Orchestre Philharmonique de Radio France, Oslo Philharmonic Orchestra, Bamberger Symphoniker and the Deutsches Symphonie-Orchester Berlin. As well as making his debut with the Münchner Philharmoniker this season, he also returns to North America for concerts with the Minnesota Orchestra and Detroit Symphony Orchestra. Following a very successful Nordic tour with Hélène Grimaud last season, the Gothenburg Symphony is back on the road in February 2019 for a tour hitting major centres in Germany and Austria with pianist Alice Sara Ott, and percussionist Martin Grubinger who premieres a new percussion concert by Daníel Bjarnason. Rouvali looks forward to other ambitious touring projects with his orchestras in the future, including appearances in North America and Japan. In addition to the extensive tour, Rouvali's season in Gothenburg opens with Strauss' Alpine Symphony accompanied by Víkingur Ólafsson Mozart Piano Concerto No.24, and he looks forward to collaborations with Janine Jansen, Patricia Kopatchinskaja and Baiba Skride throughout the rest of the season. As another cornerstone to his tenure in Gothenburg, he is adding his mark to the Orchestra's impressive recording legacy. In partnership with Tampere Philharmonic Orchestra and violinist Baiba Skride, a recording featuring concertos from Bernstein, Korngold and Rozsa is released in autumn 2018.This continues his great collaboration with Baiba Skride following their hugely successful recording of Nielsen and Sibelius' violin concertos with the Tampere Philharmonic Orchestra in summer 2015. Rouvali has been Artistic Director and Chief Conductor of the Tampere Philharmonic Orchestra since 2013. Highlights of the tenure so far include a Sibelius symphony cycle in autumn 2015, and the Orchestra's first tour to Japan in spring 2017 where they were accompanied by an exhibition of original Moomin drawings by Tove Jansson to mark the opening of the new museum at the Tampere Hall. He opens the 2018/19 season with a Beethoven programme with pianist Javier Perianes. Alongside an extremely busy symphonic conducting career, as Chief Conductor in Tampere he has conducted Verdi's La forza del destino and most recently world premiere of Olli Kortekangas's My Brother's Keeper (Veljeni vartija) with Tampere Opera in spring 2018.

Fumiaki Miura violin

Here you will find all the necessary information that you need to know about before your magical visit in the Concert Hall.

Concert experience

Invite yourself or someone you like to an experience for all the senses. Welcome to visit the Concert Hall's restaurant or one of our foyer bars.

Food & drinks

Many of the works of art in Gothenburg Concert Hall are connected to music or have a relationship with Gothenburg Symphony Orchestra. Here you will find everything from portraits of composers such as Grieg and Sibelius to one of Sweden's largest tapestries, with design by Sven X-et Erixson.

Art in the Concert Hall