Göteborgs Konserthus Rachmaninoff Piano Concerto No. 2

Bedrich Smetana (1824-1884) Haakon Jarl Op 16 The Czech national composer Bedrich Smetana, who celebrated his 200th birthday last year, had close ties to Gothenburg. Between 1856 and 1861 he worked in the city as a conductor, pianist and teacher. He developed the city's musical life, founded a music school and composed several works, including three symphonic poems – Wallenstein's Camp, Rickard III and Haakon Jarl, which was the last work Smetana wrote before returning to Prague. After a trip to Weimar, where Smetana was fascinated by the way Franz Liszt transformed literary works into music, Smetana decided to broaden his library with works that would suit a Scandinavian audience. Haakon Jarl is based on a tragedy by the Danish playwright Adam Oehlenschläger. The story takes place in Viking-age Norway, where the ruler, also known as Håkon Sigurdsson, fights against the advance of Christianity. Smetana's Haakon Jarl offers drama from the first note. Dark, doom-laden themes reflect Haakon's ruthless rule, while bright hymn-like melodies depict the budding faith in a new era. There is much emotion and theatricality as a Nordic legend comes to life in Smetana's romantic tone. Jörgen Wade

Sergei Rachmaninoff (1873-1943) Piano Concerto No. 2 Moderato Adagio sostenuto Allegro scherzando Rachmaninov was an introspective nature and much of his music is tinged with melancholy. The lighter parts often function as temporary resting points, as attempts at comfort without this becoming permanent. His solo career was extraordinarily successful: from the turn of the century right up to the Second World War, he was considered one of the world's foremost pianists. It was the second piano concerto that, after the premiere in Moscow in 1901, paved the way for his world fame. A few years later the work found its way to Gothenburg. Astrid Berwald - granddaughter of the composer Franz Berwald - played the concert in the Heden Concert Hall on February 7, 1912. However, the city's conservative reviewers preferred Brahms' second symphony under Stenhammar's direction to the new piano concerto. "The orchestra was too dominant," wrote Gothenburg's Morning Post. Göteborgs-Posten's anonymous writer was more sensitive and accurate in his assessment: "Rachmaninov apparently has an exceptionally well-developed sense of timbre, and you notice how much he likes to indulge in the most ear-pleasing timbre combinations." Stefan Nävermyr (extract)

Bela Bartók (1881-1945) Concerto for Orchestra Introduzione Gioco delle coppie Elegia Intermezzo interrotto Finale When this music was written in 1943, Bela Bartók had two years left to live. He had come to the United States fleeing a Europe at war and clawed his way through a few lean years in New York. The honorary doctorate at Harvard provided no income. In addition, he became increasingly ill, what previously appeared to be tuberculosis turned out to be leukemia. But he continued to compose as always. Work was his life - and pleasure too, if you will. Like a child, he rested by doing other things. He was first and foremost a music ethnologist, that is, a recorder and collector of folk music. And it was among other things this immeasurable library, more than 13,000 melodies, he was so keen to save the Second World War. Countless trips in Hungary, Romania, Bulgaria, Slovakia and Turkey were made with a phonograph as a memory aid. In between, he composed, on top of that a whole lot of teaching as income and change, and of course an extensive activity as a concert pianist in many countries. In addition, he was interested in collecting plants, beetles, learning new languages. Palestrina's music was always on the piano and he never traveled without his thumbed score of Stravinsky's The Rite of Spring under his arm. Is there a diagnosis for this? we would ask today. The music Bela Bartók wrote was highly influenced by all the music he saw and heard on his collecting trips, but in the later works you can also hear how fascinated he was by the Baroque masters. The concerto for orchestra was commissioned by the Sergei Koussevitsky Music Foundation. Bartók himself has described the music as a journey from austerity via an ominous song to a life-affirming ending. Like Mozart, he composed incredibly quickly, he couldn't get an idea out of his head until the next one appeared. With such a cacophony within, it is no wonder that throughout his life he sought out quiet places. Bartok himself saw the collection of folk music as his greatest and most important deed for more than one reason: "My own idea is the brotherhood of peoples, brotherhood despite all wars and conflicts. I try - as best I can - to serve that idea in my music: therefore I reject no influences, whether Slovak, Romanian, Arabic, or from other sources." (Bartók, 1931) KATARINA A KARLSSON

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.

The 2024-2025 season is Santtu-Matias Rouvali’s final as a Chief Conductor of Gothenburg Symphony following a successful eight-year tenure. He continues as a Principal Conductor of Philharmonia Orchestra and a Honorary Conductor of Tampere Philharmonic Orchestra close to his home in Finland. In 2023, Rouvali toured with the Gothenburg Symphony and violinist Arabella Steinbacher in Salzburg and Vienna. Concerts in Gothenburg in the 2023-2024 season included music by Boulanger, Saariaho, Tchaikovsky and Beethoven. He also led the Gothenburg Symphony in the European premiere of Julia Wolfe's choral drama Fire in My Mouth, as well as sold-out concerts with Stravinsky's Rite of Spring and Rachmaninoff's 2nd Piano Concerto. Deepening his strong relationship with New York Philharmonic, summer 2024 marked Rouvali’s first appearance at Bravo! Vail Festival with the orchestra and soloists Jean-Yves Thibaudet and Augustin Hadelich. The summer also saw Rouvali and Philharmonia Orchestra continue their residency in Mikkeli, Finland, and return to Edinburgh International Festival, performing Verdi’s Messa da Requiem. Throughout this season and last, he continues his relationships with top-level orchestras and soloists across Europe, including Munich Philharmonic, Berliner Philharmoniker, Orchestre Philharmonique de Radio France, Deutsches Symphonie-Orchester Berlin, Orchestra dell'Accademia Nazionale di Santa Cecilia, Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra, and he returns to North America for concerts with New York Philharmonic. This season, he also appears with Chicago Symphony Orchestra and Tonhalle-Orchester Zürich. Rouvali works with many international soloists including Bruce Liu, Lisa Batiashvili, Seong-Jin Cho, Nicola Benedetti, Jean-Yves Thibaudet, Nemanja Radulovic, Stephen Hough, Augustin Hadelich, Nikolai Lugansky, Christian Tetzlaff, Gil Shaham, Baiba Skride and Ava Bahari. Rouvali’s end of tenure with Gothenburg Symphony is marked by a tour to Germany and Czech Republic, followed up by a celebration concert in Gothenburg. He completes his Sibelius Cycle recording with Alpha Classics, the previous releases of which have been highly acclaimed with awards including Gramophone Editor’s Choice award, the Choc de Classica, a prize from the German Record Critics, the prestigious French Diapason d’Or ‘Découverte’, and Radio Classique’s ‘TROPHÉE’. Rouvali also has an extensive record production with Philharmonia Records. Another prominent CD – Beethoven’s Triple Concerto with Benjamin Grosvenor, Nicola Benedetti and Sheku Kanneh-Mason – was released on Decca in May 2024.

Norwegian pianist Christian Ihle Hadland received international attention in 2011 when he was named a BBC New Generation Artist. Among other things, he was a soloist in Beethoven's 2nd Piano Concerto at the BBC Proms with the Oslo Philharmonic under Vasily Petrenko. Christian Ihle Hadland made his concert debut with KORK, the Norwegian Radio Orchestra, aged 15. He has since performed with most major orchestras in Scandinavia. In the UK he has appeared with the Hallé Orchestra, the Royal Scottish National Orchestra, the Scottish Chamber Orchestra and the Manchester Camerata, in addition to his work with the BBC orchestras. He toured the UK with the Bergen Philharmonic under Andrew Litton in 2013. He made his US debut with the Seattle Symphony Orchestra in 2013 and has also performed with the NDR Hannover Orchestra. In 2015 he did a chamber music tour with the Australian Chamber Orchestra and American mezzo Susan Graham. In 2006, he played with the soprano Renée Fleming at the Nobel Prize ceremony in Oslo. He has played with a number of famous conductors such as Sir Andrew Davis, Herbert Blomstedt and Thomas Dausgaard. Tonight's concert is his debut with the Gothenburg Symphony.