Brahms etta

A heavyweight of music history is joined by two successful Swedes in this season´s second concert by the Symfony Orchestra. Experience Brahm´s fantastic first symphony, Dvôrák's enchanting cello concerto and Broström´s modern Transit Underground. The soloist will be Swedish star Jakob Koranyi.

Composing is a special occupation. While alone in the initial conception, in the end, the composer becomes subject to the opinions and scrutiny of the world at large.  German composer Johannes Brahms (1833-1897) was extremely self-critical and suffered throughout his life from severe performance anxiety. His anxiety was likely the reason why his first symphony took almost 15 years to complete. By that time he was already a well-known composer and orchestras and publishers fought to get their hands on the piece. The symphony is predominantly dark and tragic, although it ends on a lighter, happier note. It is very similar to Beethoven's symphonies and is sometimes called "Beethoven's 10th".

That said, the concert will begin with some more modern sounds. Tobias Broström's Transit Underground from 2007 begins as subdued and cautious with the double basses before developing into a truly powerful and rhythmic piece. Broström is among Sweden's premier young composers and has written pieces for pianist Per Tengstrand and trumpeter Håkan Hardenberger.

Swedish cellist Jakob Koranyi is currently one of Europe's most interesting soloists. His career took a giant leap forward after he won the Swedish Soloist Prize in 2006. Koranyi has played together with Sweden's and Europe's top orchestras and has won a number of other prestigious competitions and prizes. This time he will perform Dvořák's Cello Concerto. It is said that Czech composer Antonín Dvořák, who was a contemporary of Brahms, was in fact not particularly fond of the cello as a solo instrument But towards the end of his career he had apparently had a change of heart and so wrote this incredibly beautiful concerto.

The conductor for the evening is the orchestra's principal conductor, Rumon Gamba.

Conductor: Rumon Gamba
Soloist: Jacob Koranyi, cello
NorrlandsOperan Symphony Orchestra

Programme
Tobias Broström: Transit Underground
Dvôrák: Cello concerto
Brahms: Symphony No. 1

Informal debriefing in the Concert hall with Rumon Gamba and a musical surprise.