Göteborgs Konserthus Night of the Giants

Ludwig van Beethoven (1770-1827) Piano Concerto No 4 Although in Vienna Beethoven became known primarily as a pianist, and composed many works in which he could show off, six years elapsed between the third (1800) and fourth piano concerto (1806). These years were filled with hard work and shattering personal experiences. He was very worried about his increasingly deteriorating hearing, and harbored doubts about his nephew's development. His despair resulted in suicidal thoughts, and in the famous will he wrote in his residence in Heiligenstadt, where he takes his leave of life. When the crisis was overcome, he decided in 1802 to "consecrate my life and my music to humanity". He realized that his talent was unique, and that he had to develop it. During these years he wrote the fourth and fifth symphonies, the second version of the opera Fidelio, the Waldstein and Appassionata sonatas, the Rasumovsky quartets and much else that pushed his creation forward. As early as 1804, he had begun sketching the fourth piano concerto, and at the beginning of 1806 serious work began. The Fourth Piano Concerto became his most lyrical and personally heartfelt concerto. This is a work in which delicate fine joinery dominates. By having, against all rules, the soloist lead alone, and then having the orchestra repeat the main theme faintly in pianissimo, he confused the audience to such a mild degree that they found the music very peculiar. In addition, the music seems to continue in a disorderly and improvised way that threw all the rules out of play. It took time for the listeners to realize that it is a true musician who has been on the move! The concerto was dedicated to his pupil and patron, Archduke Rudolph, and was only performed twice in Vienna during the composer's lifetime: the private premiere at Prince Lobkowitz in March 1807 and in public in December 1808, at the famous concert where the 5th and 6th symphonies were also performed , as well as the great choral fantasy op 80, movements from the C major mass and the concert aria Ah Perfido!. Beethoven himself played the solo part and contemporary testimony tells us that he played with great impulsiveness and speed. The first movement is the most extensive and here the dreamy character of the concert is founded. The slow movement is a battle between a gentle piano playing and a strong string orchestra. The friendly piano succeeds in subduing the hostile orchestra and in a happy and glorious finale the piano can celebrate the victory when finally the timpani and trumpets are activated. Stig Jacobsson

Brahms's third symphony boasts one of the most beautiful romantic themes ever written: the allegretto in C minor, which with its easy three-beat chords resonates with most discerning people. In modern times, it became known as the theme of the Ingrid Bergman film Do you like Brahms... (1961) after Françoise Sagan's short story Aimez-vous Brahms? as it is more affectionately called in the original. Brahms's third symphony was inspired by nature, he created best with the greenery in the knots. He had inherited the strategy of Beethoven and other predecessors: work as a pianist, musician and teacher from fall to spring, compose in the summer. For Brahms it became a way of life. Mahler followed the same model. Originally, Brahms had intended to spend the summer in Bad Ischl, but plans changed when he found seclusion and inspiration in the German city of Wiesbaden, an old health resort, where he arrived after a journey along the Rhine. It is clear that Brahms wrote the symphony under happy circumstances this summer of 1883. Was he in love? Always in Clara Schumann. After playing through the symphony in the version for two pianos, she wrote to Brahms: "All the movements seem to form a unity, like a heartbeat." The symphony is a salute to her and a tribute to her late husband Robert Schumann, Brahms' mentor and friend. The very introduction to the symphony - which opens up like a wonderful view when one reaches a high altitude after a long hike among pines and firs - is not a little reminiscent of the introduction to Schumann's "Rhine Symphony" (the third). The mentioned allegretto also has similarities with the romance in Schumann's fourth symphony, which Brahms published in the original version at his own expense after the composer's death. Brahms also makes an ironic comment on the ongoing feud between Brahms followers (traditionalists) and Wagnerians (new German school) - three notes in horn and oboe at the end of the first movement. Do you recognize it? That's right, Tristan and Isolde. Wagner had died in February of that year… STEFAN NÄVERMYR

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. Sten Cranner 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.

Cristian Macelaru is music director of the Orchester National de France and chief conductor of the WDR Sinfonieorchester in Cologne. He is also artistic director of the George Enescu Festival in Bucharest. Cristian Macelaru was awarded the 2012 Solti Emerging Conductor Award for young conductors, followed in 2014 by the Solti Conducting Award. Since then, he has regularly appeared on the podium of the leading American orchestras, including the Chicago Symphony Orchestra, the New York Philharmonic, the Los Angeles Philharmonic and the Cleveland Orchestra. With the Philadelphia Orchestra he has served for three seasons as Conductor-in-Residence. In Europe, Macelaru has been in great demand as a guest conductor with many well-known orchestras and festivals, including the Bavarian Radio Symphony Orchestra, the Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra, the Dresden Staatskapelle, the Leipzig Gewandhausorchester and the Danish Radio Symphony Orchestra. In his third season as music director of the Orchester National de France, Macelaru led the orchestra on an international tour with concerts in Berlin, Hamburg, Munich, Vienna, Frankfurt and Cologne. Artist in Residence was Daniil Trifonov and guest artist Xavier de Maistre. In the summer of 2022, Macelaru made his debut with the Boston Symphony Orchestra at the Tanglewood Music Festival and his third season as Artistic Director and Principal Conductor of the World Youth Symphony Orchestra at Interlochen. Cristian Macelaru won a Grammy Award in 2019 for his recording of Wynton Marsalis violin concerto with Nicola Benedetti.

Rudolf Buchbinder's long career consists of tradition and innovation. In particular, his interpretations of Ludwig van Beethoven's works are considered standard-setting. Buchbinder was the first pianist to play all of Beethoven's piano sonatas in one festival summer at the 2014 Salzburg Festival. The Wiener Musikverein gave Rudolf Buchbinder the honor of being the first pianist to perform all five Beethoven piano concertos in a specially created series. There, Buchbinder was joined by five of the world's leading conductors and orchestras. As a contribution to Beethoven's 250th anniversary, Buchbinder also initiated a cycle of new Diabelli Variations as a tribute to Beethoven's epoch-making work. Rudolf Buchbinder attaches great importance to source research. His private sheet music collection includes 39 different editions of Beethoven's complete piano sonatas as well as an extensive archive of first printings, original editions and copies of Johannes Brahms piano concertos. As artistic director, he is responsible for the Grafenegg Festival, which has been one of the most influential orchestral festivals in Europe since its foundation in 2007. Buchbinder is an honorary member of the Wiener Philharmoniker and the Gesellschaft der Musikfreunde in Vienna and the first soloist to be awarded the golden badge of honor by the Staatskapelle Dresden.