- Concert
- 23 nov 2018, Main Stage.
- 2 hours and 15 minutes, including 1 interval.
-
Ensemble
Autumn Glow
Concert featuring Mussorgsky, Tchaikovsky and songs by Sibelius. With Court Singer Katarina Karnéus and the Göteborg Opera Orchestra.
Pictures at an Exhibition
Modest Mussorgsky
The evening will begin with the magnificent “Pictures at an Exhibition” by composer Modest Mussorgsky. A musical stroll among ten paintings at a gallery that was a virtuoso piano suite from the offset. When composer Maurice Ravel was commissioned to orchestrate the suite, it was transformed into a grand and colourful palette, and was a huge success.
Sibelius’ Songs
The Gothenburg audience last had the pleasure of listening to newly appointed Court Singer Katarina Karnéus in the title role in Bellini’s Norma, a performance that sparked unanimous praise from the critics, with words such as “unrivalled”, “magnificent”, “staggeringly good”, “a passionate tone” and “outstanding”. Her choice for the evening is songs by Finnish composer Jean Sibelius, Swedish poems by Fröding and Runeberg and others set to music.
Symphony No. 4
Pyotr Tchaikovsky
The evening will conclude with composer Pyotr Tchaikovsky’s “Symphony No. 4”. Despite all his success, Tchaikovsky was a tormented soul who suffered bouts of severe depression. He married one of his female admirers while composing the symphony, but shortly after the wedding the homosexual composer made a failed suicide attempt. Then he continued to write his symphony about fate standing in the way of happiness. Resplendent in grief, it flows between menacing fanfares and breathtaking orchestral fireworks in the pursuit of happiness.
The conductor for the evening is the internationally renowned Anna-Maria Helsing from Finland. This past decade she has achieved great success conducting the symphony and opera orchestras mainly in Sweden and Finland, but also Norway and Iceland.
