Beethoven and Strauss

Our chief conductor conducts Beethoven and Strauss

Under the baton of our Chief Conductor, we take our listeners on musical soul-searchings through emotional highs and lows: We combine two sonic legacies revolving around heroes – and there is a connection between them. As Romain Rolland said admiringly of Beethoven: »You are the embodiment of heroism in all of modern art. You give us your bravery, your faith that struggle is bliss.« Due to the political events around Napoleon, numerous myths surround Beethoven’s »Eroica«. The symphony was initially dedicated to the Frenchman – but even Prometheus, who brought fire to mankind in ancient times, is a possible candidate as the hero. And it is also possible that this instrumental journey may even retrace Beethoven's own fate. For the generations that followed, the famous Helden-Symphonie has remained a powerful memory – including for Richard Strauss, who almost a century later referred to the model in a way that was both playful and serious: »Ein Heldenleben« is set in E-flat major, like the »Eroica«, and displays autobiographical characteristics. In the meantime, Strauss even referred to it as a »heroic symphony«. The result is a very haunting work: at the beginning, the protagonist confronts his adversaries – the malicious envious and presumptuous know-it-alls and supposedly the nagging music critics of that time. For peace of mind, the hero then ultimately flees the world with his beloved mate. Strauss gave numerous hints about the detailed content of the symphonic poem – but what was important to him was its central message: »It is enough to know that it portrays a hero in combat with his enemies.«

Mozart and Strauss

"The time, it is a peculiar thing," that is perhaps the most well-known line from the opera "Der Rosenkavalier" by Richard Strauss. Perhaps because it is so true and we all occasionally ponder the mysterious passing of time. This can also be seen in this concert, which features excerpts from this opera and from "Die Frau ohne Schatten" on the program. Mozart was certainly ahead of his time when he wrote his famous Symphony No. 201. With it, he freed himself from his "father figure" Joseph Haydn and found his own style. On the other hand, his 26th piano concerto puts us in a festive mood, it is also known as the "Coronation Concerto" and is composed in a very "classical" style, it was meant to uplift the audience during the coronation of Leopold II in 1790.

Mozart and Strauss

"The time, it is a peculiar thing," that is perhaps the most well-known line from the opera "Der Rosenkavalier" by Richard Strauss. Perhaps because it is so true and we all occasionally ponder the mysterious passing of time. This can also be seen in this concert, which features excerpts from this opera and from "Die Frau ohne Schatten" on the program. Mozart was certainly ahead of his time when he wrote his famous Symphony No. 201. With it, he freed himself from his "father figure" Joseph Haydn and found his own style. On the other hand, his 26th piano concerto puts us in a festive mood, it is also known as the "Coronation Concerto" and is composed in a very "classical" style, it was meant to uplift the audience during the coronation of Leopold II in 1790.

Beethoven and Nielsen

Beethoven's overture to Heinrich Joseph von Collin's tragic drama about the Roman general Coriolanus is grandiose and dramatic, yet also enchantingly beautiful. It is written in the key of C minor, which Beethoven often used in his most intense and heroic works.With Nielsen, humour is often present. This is particularly true for his second symphony, which was inspired by a visit to a village inn. On the wall hung a painting that ironically depicted the four temperaments of humans – the choleric, the phlegmatic, the melancholic, and the sanguine – which Nielsen portrays with good humour, a touch of drama, and palpable warmth in his second symphony, also known as the "Four Temperaments".The Royal Stockholm Philharmonic Orchestra is conducted by Alan Gilbert, the orchestra's former chief conductor (2000–2008) and since then its Conductor Laureate. He has served as the music director of the New York Philharmonic Orchestra and is currently the chief conductor of the NDR Elbphilharmonie Orchestra in Hamburg and the music director of the Royal Swedish Opera in Stockholm.

Beethoven and Pejacevic

Beethoven was drawn to figures, fictional or real, who dared to stand up against injustices. Egmont in Goethe's drama of the same name was one such fictional but clearly influential figure for Beethoven. In the overture, he summarizes the drama, from the slow introduction through tragedy to a triumphant conclusion.The orchestra is led by the young and increasingly renowned Czech conductor Jirí Rozen, who is making his debut with the Royal Stockholm Philharmonic Orchestra.In Dora Pejacevic's music, traces of Wagner, Brahms, and Bruckner can be found, but it is also strongly personal with rich colors and profound seriousness. After a cautious, slow introduction, the contrastive and determined music of this symphony from 1918 unfolds, painting vivid natural scenes. The music also contains exuberant pirouettes that are swept away by dazzling outbursts towards the end. It is an impressive work by a composer who was long neglected.

Beethoven and Price

In a completely new manner from before, Beethoven infused his second symphony with surprising effects. The orchestra swiftly switches between the faintest of whispers to thunderous outbursts in sudden turns. Here, wild humor and dramatic mood abound. Portuguese conductor Dinis Sousa leads the Royal Stockholm Philharmonic Orchestra in this symphonic milestone.The concert appropriately commences with an overture: Dvorák's powerful and darkly evocative Othello – one of three concert overtures Dvorák wrote to musically portray various aspects of human existence.The young British pianist Jeneba Kanneh-Mason (born 2003) makes her debut with the Royal Stockholm Philharmonic Orchestra. She is at the beginning of a flourishing career and performs here with the romantically grandiose piano concerto by American composer Florence Price (1887–1953) – music never before heard in Konserthuset.Jeneba Kanneh-Mason is the sister of cellist Sheku Kanneh-Mason – who performed at the wedding of Prince Harry and Meghan Markle – and pianist Isata Kanneh-Mason. Both have previously appeared at Konserthuset. They are three of seven extremely talented siblings often referred to as The Kanneh-Masons.

Dvořák and Beethoven

Beethoven and Sibelius

It was composed at the beginning of the last century in the hot, sunny regions of Italy, but the triumphant success of Jean Sibelius' Second Symphony was celebrated in his homeland of Finland in the far north. This was also because his countrymen heard in it a kind of manifesto against the tsarist yoke. To this day, especially the slow movement is a kind of national anthem for the Finns, and the finale has something "magical that puts us in ecstasy like the shaman's magic drum," as a compatriot of Sibelius wrote. We have combined this symphony with a work that was created about 100 years earlier and still breathes a little of Mozart's spirit. In his First Piano Concerto, Beethoven had already developed his own means, for example, he used clarinets, trumpets, and timpani for the first time ever in a piano concerto. Boris Giltburg presents himself with this masterpiece for the first time as our Artist in Residence.

Works by Strauss and Berwald