Swedish Mounted Band of the Royal Lifeguards with Kristin Amparo

›The Magic of Silence‹

On the occasion of Caspar David Friedrich’s 250th birthday – he was probably the most significant painter in the German Romantic era – he is the focus not only of a major Berlin exhibition, but also of a lecture-concert in the James Simon Gallery, architectural entry point to Museum Island. The evening is entitled ›The Magic of Silence‹, the title of a book on Friedrich that Florian Illies, its author, will shape jointly with clarinetist Bernhard Nusser, soprano Alessia Schumacher and pianist Dirk Wedmann. The programme consists of songs by Meyerbeer, Schubert, Schumann and Spohr that musically pick up on the Romantic spirit.

The Wedding of the Sun King

Probably France’s largest 17th century festival comes to life again here: the wedding between the »Sun King« Louis XIV and the Spanish princess Marie-Thérèse ended the long-standing hostility of both countries in 1660 and was fittingly ostentatiously celebrated, firstly on the Spanish border, then in Paris. Thereby, a large-scale musical setting befitting their social status from sacred works via fanfares to dance and opera should also be included. Vincent Dumestre, with his period performance orchestra Le Poème Harmonique and vocalists, has put together a splendid panorama of French baroque music, which transforms the entire Elbphilharmonie Grand Hall into a royal ballroom. The proverbial timpani and trumpets sound, there is a lot of music by Jean-Baptiste Lully – Louis XIV’s favourite composer – and by Francesco Cavalli, who travelled from Italy to Paris for the wedding specifically for performances of his operas. This programme incidentally evolved from Dumestre and his ensembles for the Palace of Versailles, which the Sun King had built as an overflowing, sumptuous structure – also to make space for the theatre, ballet and opera performances he so loved. Today, the stars of the early music scene take golden hammers into their hands here and sound repertoire gems of the 16th to 18th century.

Philharmonic Day – Sing-along with the Royal Stockholm Philharmonic Orchestra

Have you always dreamt of singing in some of the greatest hits of classical music? This is your chance! With the help of our luxurious ”backing band”, the Royal Stockholm Philharmonic Orchestra, it’s time for you to participate and sing along in well-known music pieces. We dare to promise you a powerful experience.The sing-along is led by Emilie Power, organist and choir leader of the Katarina parish. Lyrics will be handed out ahead of the concert.Strollers and prams cannot be brought into Konserthuset Stockholm and are best left at home. A designated stroller tent is set up outside the entrance, where prams can be left, subject to space availability.

Holst, Gershwin and Martin with the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra

Robert Ziegler leads you on a journey through space and time with the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra.

Hadelich / Piemontesi / Music of the masters from the banks of the Seine

Stars up close! Today, Augustin Hadelich is a world-leading violinist who conquers the world's stages and performs with the best orchestras, including the NOSPR. He returns with a chamber programme, in duo with the versatile piano virtuoso Francesco Piemontesi. Their concert, which will be dominated by French music, is designed in a modern way. There is no shortage of the canon of violin music, represented by Franck's striking, emotional, late Romantic sonata and Debussy's subtle, intimate sonata. They are accompanied by a third, wonderfully melodic sonata by Francis Poulenc. Both predecessors will shine through, as Poulenc's sounds focus their qualities like a lens because our perception changes with the context. Old French music (by de Grigny and Rameau) will indicate the roots of the work of the masters from the Seine banks mentioned above. György Kurtág's handful of short musical gestures, meanwhile, will allow us to pause for a moment to take a fresh look at what we already know. Adam Suprynowicz Concert duration (intermission included): approximately 90 minutes

Family traditional Silesian dance with the Fedak Band

Iestyn Davies, Robin Ticciati and the Chamber Orchestra of Europe

Anyone who delves into George Frideric Handel’s vocal and instrumental music will find a wealth of treasures. Elegance, virtuosity, delicacy – all this can be discovered in an endlessly inventive world of musical expression. In a programme with the Chamber Orchestra of Europe and conductor Robin Ticciati, you can experience some of Handel’s most beautiful arias and orchestral pieces from operas and other works. Iestyn Davies, one of the leading countertenors of our time, is the soloist. Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart was a great admirer of Handel. His festive and exuberant “Haffner Symphony” concludes the programme.

»The Art of Being Human«

Human existence is a contradictory business. »The Art of Being Human« explores the complex impacts of this trite fact. The Grammy award-winning viola da gamba ensemble Phantasm thereby ensures a musical performance at the very highest level. Its members put their instrumental mastery into operation for an evening in which old sounds and contemporary dance blend into an inseparable unit and jointly try to fathom the darkest recesses of the human condition. Choreographer Sommer Ulrickson and allround visual artist Alexander Polzin create a multidisciplinary framework in which music and movement come together, connect with each other, hook into each other, collide and cross fertilise. Under the leadership of Laurence Dreyfus, Phantasm plays music of English masters, such as John Dowland, Henry Purcell and William Byrd. At the same time, the musicians interact in the most diverse way with the dancers, who move as partners and yet adversaries around sculptures by the Berlin artist Alexander Polzin. The result is a staged concert evening, which makes full use of the potential of this currently popular format!

The essence of Slavic soul

Season opening with the Orchestra Academy

Since 2016, the Royal Stockholm Philharmonic Orchestra has hosted an ”Orchestra Academy”. The international RSPO Orchestra Academy is a one-year, advanced academic programme for young musicians. Under the guidance of the section leaders from the Royal Stockholm Philharmonic Orchestra and the Piteå School of Music, the musicians receive intensive training individually, in chamber music, and orchestral playing. They also showcase their talents through a series of public chamber music concerts – such as this one featuring this year’s academy students.The Polish composer Grażyna Bacewicz was 23 years old when she wrote her Wind Quintet in 1932, the same year she graduated in composition and violin from the Warsaw Conservatory. The music from this period is in a neoclassical style, and the quintet is a fine example of this.Elizabeth Maconchy was a composer of great versatility and unfailing integrity, amply deserving of a British critic’s description of her as one of the most substantial composers these islands have yet produced. She studied at the Royal College of Music with Vaughan Williams, but she was attracted less by English pastoralism than by the central European modernism of Bartók and Janáček. The prize-winning quintet featured here is an early work, composed in 1932 when she was 25 years old. The Czech-born Antoine Reicha was a contemporary and friend of Beethoven and was primarily active in Paris, where he became a professor at the Conservatoire (with students including Hector Berlioz). Reicha is particularly known for his writings on music theory, but his chamber music is also regularly performed. Here, we hear the Octet in a finale that brings together all the musicians.