Göteborgs Konserthus Dvorák’s New World Symphony

Gerald Finzi (1901-1956) Gerald Finzi's softly romantic music had a popular connection in his native England. After a few years as a teacher in London, he isolated himself in the Hampshire countryside where he tended his rare varieties of apples. But he played just as important a role in musical life as in politics. His reticence and sensitive insecurity are said to be rooted in the loss of his father at the age of eight and the death of an important teacher in France in 1917. In addition, three of his older brothers died before Gerald Finzi turned 18. He sought solace and meaning in life by acquiring an impressive reading ability and it was with frugal fingertip feeling that he chose texts for his vocal compositions. In the 1920s, Finzi began writing something that he thought would result in a piano concerto. But he worked slowly, often putting his sketches aside to let them mature. Sometimes they had to lie down for too long. Although he hinted at the conclusions, only the slow movement was completed - and this was not published until after his death, and then under a name agreed upon by his wife and son: Eclogue (shepherd's poem). The premiere took place four months after Finzi's passing.

Anders Hillborg (f 1954) Cello Concerto Composed in 2020 for Nicolas Altstaedt, Anders Hillborg’s first Cello Concerto is characterised by the intimacy of its scoring, and a direct and paired-back simplicity of expression. It was first performed in Antwerp, Belgium. It has now been performed several times in Sweden by cellist Amalie Stalheim. Much of the work’s 27-minute span is scored for strings alone, with dazzling virtuosity eschewed in favour of long, soaring cantabile lines – the soloist’s rich and resonant low C string is only utilised at a few key moments. This ravishingly beautiful, glacial, soundscape occasionally ruptures – we hear a fragment of renaissance polyphony as if through gauze, and later a frenzied, surreal outburst for full orchestra leads to a moment of crisis – but the prevailing mood is one of vast space, loneliness and longing. (Faber Music)

Antonin Dvorák (1841-1904) Symphony No 9 E minor Op 95 "From the New World" In February 1895, the composer Antonin Dvorák wrote in American Harper's Magazine: "An American reporter once told me that the most important talent a journalist can possess is a 'nose for news'. Just as a musician must sharpen his ears for all music. Nothing must be too low or too insignificant for the musician. On a walk he should listen to every whistling boy, every street singer, or blind positivist. I am often so fascinated by these people that I can hardly tear myself away from them, for every now and then I perceive a move or hear fragments of a recurring melody which seems to be the voice of the people. These things should be taken care of, and no one should be too nobel to make diligent use of all such notices". Dvorák loved the folk music of his native Czech Republic and drew inspiration from it in several of his works. The quote shows his great interest in precisely "the voice of the people" and this interest was one of the reasons why the wealthy Jeanette M Thurber invited him in 1891 to become principal of the new National Conservatory in New York. For Mrs. Thurber had a special wish: that Dvorák would participate in the shaping of a future American national music, to be created with his help by the composition students at her conservatory. During the 1880s and 1890s, Antonin Dvorák was at the height of his career. He lived in Prague and supported his family as a composer, conductor, organist and composition teacher at the Prague Conservatory. In an impressive list of works in most classical music genres, there are nine symphonies, four of which were written during these decades. He was extremely hesitant to leave his homeland. But the large salary led him and his family to settle in an apartment in Manhattan, where they lived 1892-1895. A famous statement by Dvorák during this time is that indigenous and black songs should form the basis of "a great and noble musical tradition... They are the folk songs of America and your composers must adopt them." And so he began his ninth symphony, which he himself called "From the New World". The first performance took place in Carnegie Hall in December 1893 with conductor Anton Seidl and the New York Philharmonic Orchestra. It was a great success, but no one could immediately hear "the voice of the American people". On the other hand, there were Czech folk music sounds that Dvorák mixed with his own invented melodies. Four movements of Dvorák's most popular music speak for themselves. "Voice of the people" can be expressed in so many ways.

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. Anna-Karin Larsson 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.

Emilia Hoving has emerged as one of most exciting young Finnish conductors of today. She was the winner of the Finnish critics’ prize 2021 for the Best Newcomer in the Arts. Her assignments as Assistant to Hannu Lintu at the Finnish Radio (2019) and to Mikko Franck at Radio France (2020-22) both led to international appearances with orchestras such as the Royal Stockholm Philharmonic, Luxembourg Philharmonic, BBC Symphony and Orchestre National de Lille as well as with the Helsinki Philharmonic. Emilia Hoving has conducted at Wiener Konzerthaus and made her German debut with the Orchestre Philharmonique de Radio France in their Berlin Philharmonie concert 2022 at only a few hours’ notice. In 2023-2024 she debuts with Swedish Radio Symphony, Netherlands Radio Philharmonic, Royal Philharmonic, Tonkuenstler Wien, Bournemouth Symphony and Tenerife Symphony orchestra. She also led the closing concert of Side by Side Music camp 2024 and the school concert Bubbles at the Gothenburg Symphony in 2023. In Summer 2022 she made her Tokyo debut at Suntory Hall conducting the Yomiuri Nippon Symphony and her UK debut conducting the Philharmonia, where she has now become a regular guest. Hoving has conducted many works by living (particularly Finnish) composers, and last season gave the Australian premiere of Missy Mazzoli’s Procession at the Adelaide Festival. Hoving studied at the Sibelius Academy in Helsinki with Professors Sakari Oramo, Atso Almila and Jorma Panula.

Juan Zurutuza is a pianist trained in Mexico and the Netherlands. He studied with Rian de Waal at the Royal Conservatory in The Hague from 2001-2008. He has played solo and chamber music concerts with members of the Rotterdam Philharmonic Orchestra and the Concertgebouw Orchestra in Scandinavia, Europe and North America. Since 2022, Juan Zurutuza is pianist in the Gothenburg Symphony. He is currently studying with pianist Robert Durso, thanks to several scholarships received from GS Vänner, the Marianne & Ary Paley Scholarship Fund, the Eduard Magnus Music Fund and the Mary von Sydows Donation Fund.

Award-winning cellist Amalie Stalheim was born in Bergen in 1993 and has established herself as one of the foremost musicians in the Nordics. In addition to concerts as a solo cellist in Europe, she has a burning commitment to commissioning and playing newly written classical music. She collaborates with leading composers such as Missy Mazzoli, Anders Hillborg, Britta Byström, Therese Ulvo, Jo David Meyer and Jostein Stalheim. In recent years, she has premiered eight cello concertos and recorded several of them on disc. Amalie Stalheim is regularly invited as a soloist with leading professional symphony orchestras in the Nordics, such as the Oslo Philharmonic, the Royal Philharmonic in Stockholm, Swedish Radio Symphony Orchestra, the Oulu Symphony Orchestra, the Icelandic Symphony Orchestra and the Bergen Philharmonic Orchestra. Highlights during the 2023-2024 season have been solo engagements with the Iceland Symphony Orchestra, Turku Philharmonic Orchestra, Ankara Symphony Orchestra, Swedish Radio Symphony Orchestra, Malmö Symphony Orchestra, Helsingborg Symphony Orchestra and the Trondheim Soloists. She won the Norwegian Soloist Prize 2021 and the Swedish Soloist Prize 2018 and was Sveriges Radio P2's Artist in Residence 2018-2020. She plays a cello built by F. Ruggieri in 1687, very generously loaned to her by Anders Sveaas Almennyttige Fond.