Sibelius Festival: Stockholm

Swedish Radio Symphony Orchestra
Daniel Harding, conductor
Maria Dueñas, violin

Symphony No. 1
Symphony No. 7
Violin Concerto

6 pm Pre-concert Talk / Carpenter´s Hall
Alex Ross – Sibelius in America: Reactionary versus Modernist
Alex Ross is the music critic of The New Yorker

The Stockholm concert recreates the first of three concerts on Sibelius’s visit to Stockholm in 1924, where he conducted the Konsertförening Orchestra. At Stockholm Auditorium the composer performed the Seventh Symphony for the first time – the only one of his symphonies that was not premiered in Finland.

The First Symphony was composed in a world full of political turbulence. Sibelius responded with numerous protest compositions. Symphony No. 1 is rougher and more ascetic than his other compositions from that era.

In Stockholm Sibelius conducted the revised version of his Violin Concerto for the first time. The violin is most definitely the king but, when the soloist falls quiet, the orchestra gets to showcase its dynamic richness.

Duration 2 h, incl. intermission 20 min.