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The Gothenburg Symphony was formed in 1905 and today consists of 109 musicians. The orchestra's base is Gothenburg Concert Hall at Götaplatsen that has gathered music lovers since 1935. 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. The title Principal Guest Conductor is shared by Pekka Kuusisto from 2025. 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 Santtu-Matias Rouvali, 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.

Anna-Maria Helsing was appointed Chief Conductor of the BBC Concert Orchestra in 2023, where she had previously been Principal Guest Conductor. Since January 2025, she has also been Chief Conductor of the Vaasa City Orchestra. From 2010 to 2013, Anna-Maria Helsing was Chief Conductor of the Oulu Symphony Orchestra. She is currently Artistic Director of the Rusk Chamber Music Festival in Jakobstad. In the 2025-2026 season, Helsing returns to the Royal Swedish Opera in Stockholm to conduct Britta Byström's newly written Sami opera Jordens hjärta (Heart of the Earth). She will also make a return visit to Brno, Czech Republic with the BBC Concert Orchestra at the Moravian Autumn Festival. She will make her debut with the Vancouver Symphony Orchestra in Canada, with the Philharmonic of Southern Denmark and with the Wiesbaden State Orchestra in Germany. She returns to the Swedish Radio Symphony Orchestra in Stockholm, the Gothenburg Symphony Orchestra and the City Orchestras of Kuopio and Joensuu.

The Gothenburg Symphony was formed in 1905 and today consists of 109 musicians. The orchestra's base is Gothenburg Concert Hall at Götaplatsen that has gathered music lovers since 1935. 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. The title Principal Guest Conductor is shared by Pekka Kuusisto from 2025. 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 Santtu-Matias Rouvali, 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.

Anna-Maria Helsing was appointed Chief Conductor of the BBC Concert Orchestra in 2023, where she had previously been Principal Guest Conductor. Since January 2025, she has also been Chief Conductor of the Vaasa City Orchestra. From 2010 to 2013, Anna-Maria Helsing was Chief Conductor of the Oulu Symphony Orchestra. She is currently Artistic Director of the Rusk Chamber Music Festival in Jakobstad. In the 2025-2026 season, Helsing returns to the Royal Swedish Opera in Stockholm to conduct Britta Byström's newly written Sami opera Jordens hjärta (Heart of the Earth). She will also make a return visit to Brno, Czech Republic with the BBC Concert Orchestra at the Moravian Autumn Festival. She will make her debut with the Vancouver Symphony Orchestra in Canada, with the Philharmonic of Southern Denmark and with the Wiesbaden State Orchestra in Germany. She returns to the Swedish Radio Symphony Orchestra in Stockholm, the Gothenburg Symphony Orchestra and the City Orchestras of Kuopio and Joensuu.

The Gothenburg Symphony was formed in 1905 and today consists of 109 musicians. The orchestra's base is Gothenburg Concert Hall at Götaplatsen that has gathered music lovers since 1935. 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. The title Principal Guest Conductor is shared by Pekka Kuusisto from 2025. 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 Santtu-Matias Rouvali, 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.

Anna-Maria Helsing was appointed Chief Conductor of the BBC Concert Orchestra in 2023, where she had previously been Principal Guest Conductor. Since January 2025, she has also been Chief Conductor of the Vaasa City Orchestra. From 2010 to 2013, Anna-Maria Helsing was Chief Conductor of the Oulu Symphony Orchestra. She is currently Artistic Director of the Rusk Chamber Music Festival in Jakobstad. In the 2025-2026 season, Helsing returns to the Royal Swedish Opera in Stockholm to conduct Britta Byström's newly written Sami opera Jordens hjärta (Heart of the Earth). She will also make a return visit to Brno, Czech Republic with the BBC Concert Orchestra at the Moravian Autumn Festival. She will make her debut with the Vancouver Symphony Orchestra in Canada, with the Philharmonic of Southern Denmark and with the Wiesbaden State Orchestra in Germany. She returns to the Swedish Radio Symphony Orchestra in Stockholm, the Gothenburg Symphony Orchestra and the City Orchestras of Kuopio and Joensuu.

The Gothenburg Symphony was formed in 1905 and today consists of 109 musicians. The orchestra's base is Gothenburg Concert Hall at Götaplatsen that has gathered music lovers since 1935. 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. The title Principal Guest Conductor is shared by Pekka Kuusisto from 2025. 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 Santtu-Matias Rouvali, 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.

Anna-Maria Helsing was appointed Chief Conductor of the BBC Concert Orchestra in 2023, where she had previously been Principal Guest Conductor. Since January 2025, she has also been Chief Conductor of the Vaasa City Orchestra. From 2010 to 2013, Anna-Maria Helsing was Chief Conductor of the Oulu Symphony Orchestra. She is currently Artistic Director of the Rusk Chamber Music Festival in Jakobstad. In the 2025-2026 season, Helsing returns to the Royal Swedish Opera in Stockholm to conduct Britta Byström's newly written Sami opera Jordens hjärta (Heart of the Earth). She will also make a return visit to Brno, Czech Republic with the BBC Concert Orchestra at the Moravian Autumn Festival. She will make her debut with the Vancouver Symphony Orchestra in Canada, with the Philharmonic of Southern Denmark and with the Wiesbaden State Orchestra in Germany. She returns to the Swedish Radio Symphony Orchestra in Stockholm, the Gothenburg Symphony Orchestra and the City Orchestras of Kuopio and Joensuu.

The Gothenburg Symphony was formed in 1905 and today consists of 109 musicians. The orchestra's base is Gothenburg Concert Hall at Götaplatsen that has gathered music lovers since 1935. 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. The title Principal Guest Conductor is shared by Pekka Kuusisto from 2025. 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 Santtu-Matias Rouvali, 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.

Anna-Maria Helsing was appointed Chief Conductor of the BBC Concert Orchestra in 2023, where she had previously been Principal Guest Conductor. Since January 2025, she has also been Chief Conductor of the Vaasa City Orchestra. From 2010 to 2013, Anna-Maria Helsing was Chief Conductor of the Oulu Symphony Orchestra. She is currently Artistic Director of the Rusk Chamber Music Festival in Jakobstad. In the 2025-2026 season, Helsing returns to the Royal Swedish Opera in Stockholm to conduct Britta Byström's newly written Sami opera Jordens hjärta (Heart of the Earth). She will also make a return visit to Brno, Czech Republic with the BBC Concert Orchestra at the Moravian Autumn Festival. She will make her debut with the Vancouver Symphony Orchestra in Canada, with the Philharmonic of Southern Denmark and with the Wiesbaden State Orchestra in Germany. She returns to the Swedish Radio Symphony Orchestra in Stockholm, the Gothenburg Symphony Orchestra and the City Orchestras of Kuopio and Joensuu.

The Gothenburg Symphony was formed in 1905 and today consists of 109 musicians. The orchestra's base is Gothenburg Concert Hall at Götaplatsen that has gathered music lovers since 1935. 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. The title Principal Guest Conductor is shared by Pekka Kuusisto from 2025. 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 Santtu-Matias Rouvali, 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.

Anna-Maria Helsing was appointed Chief Conductor of the BBC Concert Orchestra in 2023, where she had previously been Principal Guest Conductor. Since January 2025, she has also been Chief Conductor of the Vaasa City Orchestra. From 2010 to 2013, Anna-Maria Helsing was Chief Conductor of the Oulu Symphony Orchestra. She is currently Artistic Director of the Rusk Chamber Music Festival in Jakobstad. In the 2025-2026 season, Helsing returns to the Royal Swedish Opera in Stockholm to conduct Britta Byström's newly written Sami opera Jordens hjärta (Heart of the Earth). She will also make a return visit to Brno, Czech Republic with the BBC Concert Orchestra at the Moravian Autumn Festival. She will make her debut with the Vancouver Symphony Orchestra in Canada, with the Philharmonic of Southern Denmark and with the Wiesbaden State Orchestra in Germany. She returns to the Swedish Radio Symphony Orchestra in Stockholm, the Gothenburg Symphony Orchestra and the City Orchestras of Kuopio and Joensuu.

Maurice Ravel (1875-1937) Piano Concerto G Major Allegramente - Adagio assai - Presto After a long tour of the United States in 1928, Ravel wrote his last three major works the following year: the super hit Bolero and two piano concertos. The journey can be felt above all in the Piano Concerto in G major, which was influenced by the blues, the freedom of jazz and the rhythms of New York nightclubs. On the trip, Ravel also met George Gershwin. The American composer knew what the pulse of a big city and modernity should sound like. Ravel was inspired by the style. Despite the presence of jazz, the work is elaborated with Ravel's meticulous precision and French elegance – the orchestral sounds of the wind, every drum beat and syncopation, every bluesy piano chord and glissando have their exact place. The two outer movements of the work crackle with energy, rhythmic precision and virtuosity, but it is in the slow middle movement that Ravel opens his most intimate space. The movement’s opening three-minute solo on the piano, which hovers silently, is reminiscent of Erik Satie. The keys speak with deep humanity and the simple, almost pastoral melody slowly unfolds in an endless line. When the clarinet and flute then respond to the piano in a languid dialogue, it is as if time has stood still. The Piano Concerto in G major is the last major work in which Ravel was in full artistic control – a shimmering farewell from one of the most refined musical poets of the 20th century.

The glory days of the Viennese waltz at the end of the 19th century were pure madness - completely comparable to today's unrestrained club dancing. Swirling around giant ballrooms with thousands of other couples, over and over again, was the great pleasure and enjoyment of the time. The young loved to be swept up in these communal excesses while the opposing side argued that it was harmful and immoral to spin around in this way. But the Viennese waltz could not be stopped - the Strauss family and their successors spread the courage to the rest of Europe, Russia and the USA. Ravel was born early enough to know the ravages of the Viennese waltz. This familiarity probably inspired him when he began the orchestral piece intended for Diaghilev's Russian ballet. However, he refused. The "choreographic poem" that was finished in 1920 only became a ballet in 1929 when the dancer Ida Rubinstein staged it. The work's working name was Vienna, a city Ravel knew well by the way, but in the end was given an even more stripped-down and concentrated title: La valse, the waltz. Like the Strauss waltzes, La valse has a slow opening, after which it finds its rhythm and melody and dances away in good old three-bar. But where Strauss keep the music under soft reins and gently slow down at the end to let off their travelers, Ravel does the opposite: the waltz completely explodes, swells over all borders and explodes both tempo and melody. Ravel simply captures the essence of the Viennese waltz - the rapture and total indulgence. An emotional discharge, or for the theorist: music that comments on itself. The ironic Ravel did not deny himself - what is wrong with satisfying different tastes at the same time?

The Gothenburg Symphony was formed in 1905 and today consists of 109 musicians. The orchestra's base is Gothenburg Concert Hall at Götaplatsen that has gathered music lovers since 1935. 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. The title Principal Guest Conductor is shared by Pekka Kuusisto from 2025. 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 Santtu-Matias Rouvali, 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.

Maurice Ravel (1875-1937) Piano Concerto G Major Allegramente - Adagio assai - Presto After a long tour of the United States in 1928, Ravel wrote his last three major works the following year: the super hit Bolero and two piano concertos. The journey can be felt above all in the Piano Concerto in G major, which was influenced by the blues, the freedom of jazz and the rhythms of New York nightclubs. On the trip, Ravel also met George Gershwin. The American composer knew what the pulse of a big city and modernity should sound like. Ravel was inspired by the style. Despite the presence of jazz, the work is elaborated with Ravel's meticulous precision and French elegance – the orchestral sounds of the wind, every drum beat and syncopation, every bluesy piano chord and glissando have their exact place. The two outer movements of the work crackle with energy, rhythmic precision and virtuosity, but it is in the slow middle movement that Ravel opens his most intimate space. The movement’s opening three-minute solo on the piano, which hovers silently, is reminiscent of Erik Satie. The keys speak with deep humanity and the simple, almost pastoral melody slowly unfolds in an endless line. When the clarinet and flute then respond to the piano in a languid dialogue, it is as if time has stood still. The Piano Concerto in G major is the last major work in which Ravel was in full artistic control – a shimmering farewell from one of the most refined musical poets of the 20th century.

The glory days of the Viennese waltz at the end of the 19th century were pure madness - completely comparable to today's unrestrained club dancing. Swirling around giant ballrooms with thousands of other couples, over and over again, was the great pleasure and enjoyment of the time. The young loved to be swept up in these communal excesses while the opposing side argued that it was harmful and immoral to spin around in this way. But the Viennese waltz could not be stopped - the Strauss family and their successors spread the courage to the rest of Europe, Russia and the USA. Ravel was born early enough to know the ravages of the Viennese waltz. This familiarity probably inspired him when he began the orchestral piece intended for Diaghilev's Russian ballet. However, he refused. The "choreographic poem" that was finished in 1920 only became a ballet in 1929 when the dancer Ida Rubinstein staged it. The work's working name was Vienna, a city Ravel knew well by the way, but in the end was given an even more stripped-down and concentrated title: La valse, the waltz. Like the Strauss waltzes, La valse has a slow opening, after which it finds its rhythm and melody and dances away in good old three-bar. But where Strauss keep the music under soft reins and gently slow down at the end to let off their travelers, Ravel does the opposite: the waltz completely explodes, swells over all borders and explodes both tempo and melody. Ravel simply captures the essence of the Viennese waltz - the rapture and total indulgence. An emotional discharge, or for the theorist: music that comments on itself. The ironic Ravel did not deny himself - what is wrong with satisfying different tastes at the same time?

The Gothenburg Symphony was formed in 1905 and today consists of 109 musicians. The orchestra's base is Gothenburg Concert Hall at Götaplatsen that has gathered music lovers since 1935. 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. The title Principal Guest Conductor is shared by Pekka Kuusisto from 2025. 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 Santtu-Matias Rouvali, 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.

Richard Wagner (1813-1883) Prelude and Liebestod from Tristan and Isolde The musical language of the opera Tristan und Isolde (1859) is sometimes considered the beginning of musical modernism. Tristan’s harmonic language, filled with linguering and unresolved dissonances, not only realizes the sexual tension between the opera’s two central characters, but also heralds the liberation from the limitations of tonality. The famous “Tristan chord” is an unresolved dissonance, an academic way of saying that it “leads to something”. The prelude exemplifies Wagner’s forward-looking view of both harmony and the question of musical form. Here Wagner’s Leitmotif technique, i.e. central themes that correspond to characters and ideas, is also developed. Something that became completely self-evident in film music many decades later. Isolde has just arrived and finds Tristan dead as the famous piece Liebestod (Love's Death) begins. She wants to sink into unconsciousness and finally consummate her love for Tristan by following him into death. The passage builds to a climax when "waves of refreshing winds" begin to envelop Isolde, and again when she imagines dying in "the mighty wave of the world's breath." She sinks everything as the wind floats and dissolves the chord from the prelude.

The Gothenburg Symphony was formed in 1905 and today consists of 109 musicians. The orchestra's base is Gothenburg Concert Hall at Götaplatsen that has gathered music lovers since 1935. 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. The title Principal Guest Conductor is shared by Pekka Kuusisto from 2025. 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 Santtu-Matias Rouvali, 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.

Richard Wagner (1813-1883) Prelude and Liebestod from Tristan and Isolde The musical language of the opera Tristan und Isolde (1859) is sometimes considered the beginning of musical modernism. Tristan’s harmonic language, filled with linguering and unresolved dissonances, not only realizes the sexual tension between the opera’s two central characters, but also heralds the liberation from the limitations of tonality. The famous “Tristan chord” is an unresolved dissonance, an academic way of saying that it “leads to something”. The prelude exemplifies Wagner’s forward-looking view of both harmony and the question of musical form. Here Wagner’s Leitmotif technique, i.e. central themes that correspond to characters and ideas, is also developed. Something that became completely self-evident in film music many decades later. Isolde has just arrived and finds Tristan dead as the famous piece Liebestod (Love's Death) begins. She wants to sink into unconsciousness and finally consummate her love for Tristan by following him into death. The passage builds to a climax when "waves of refreshing winds" begin to envelop Isolde, and again when she imagines dying in "the mighty wave of the world's breath." She sinks everything as the wind floats and dissolves the chord from the prelude.

The Gothenburg Symphony was formed in 1905 and today consists of 109 musicians. The orchestra's base is Gothenburg Concert Hall at Götaplatsen that has gathered music lovers since 1935. 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. The title Principal Guest Conductor is shared by Pekka Kuusisto from 2025. 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 Santtu-Matias Rouvali, 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 Gothenburg Symphony was formed in 1905 and today consists of 109 musicians. The orchestra's base is Gothenburg Concert Hall at Götaplatsen that has gathered music lovers since 1935. 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. The title Principal Guest Conductor is shared by Pekka Kuusisto from 2025. 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 Santtu-Matias Rouvali, 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 Gothenburg Symphony was formed in 1905 and today consists of 109 musicians. The orchestra's base is Gothenburg Concert Hall at Götaplatsen that has gathered music lovers since 1935. 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. The title Principal Guest Conductor is shared by Pekka Kuusisto from 2025. 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 Santtu-Matias Rouvali, 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 Gothenburg Symphony was formed in 1905 and today consists of 109 musicians. The orchestra's base is Gothenburg Concert Hall at Götaplatsen that has gathered music lovers since 1935. 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. The title Principal Guest Conductor is shared by Pekka Kuusisto from 2025. 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 Santtu-Matias Rouvali, 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 Gothenburg Symphony was formed in 1905 and today consists of 109 musicians. The orchestra's base is Gothenburg Concert Hall at Götaplatsen that has gathered music lovers since 1935. 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. The title Principal Guest Conductor is shared by Pekka Kuusisto from 2025. 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 Santtu-Matias Rouvali, 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 Gothenburg Symphony was formed in 1905 and today consists of 109 musicians. The orchestra's base is Gothenburg Concert Hall at Götaplatsen that has gathered music lovers since 1935. 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. The title Principal Guest Conductor is shared by Pekka Kuusisto from 2025. 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 Santtu-Matias Rouvali, 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 Gothenburg Symphony was formed in 1905 and today consists of 109 musicians. The orchestra's base is Gothenburg Concert Hall at Götaplatsen that has gathered music lovers since 1935. 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. The title Principal Guest Conductor is shared by Pekka Kuusisto from 2025. 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 Santtu-Matias Rouvali, 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 Gothenburg Symphony was formed in 1905 and today consists of 109 musicians. The orchestra's base is Gothenburg Concert Hall at Götaplatsen that has gathered music lovers since 1935. 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. The title Principal Guest Conductor is shared by Pekka Kuusisto from 2025. 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 Santtu-Matias Rouvali, 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 Gothenburg Symphony was formed in 1905 and today consists of 109 musicians. The orchestra's base is Gothenburg Concert Hall at Götaplatsen that has gathered music lovers since 1935. 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. The title Principal Guest Conductor is shared by Pekka Kuusisto from 2025. 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 Santtu-Matias Rouvali, 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.

Felix Mendelssohn (1809-1847) Violin Concerto E minor Allegro molto appassionato Andante Allegretto non troppo. Allegro molto vivace Felix Mendelssohn came from a German-Jewish family and as a composer strove to reconcile issues of spirituality and religious tolerance within society, and within himself. The Violin Concerto in E minor was written for the soloist Ferdinand David. However, the wait was six years before the premiere could take place in Leipzig on March 13, 1845 with David and the Gewandhaus Orchestra. New was the transition to the second movement without a break, as well as the fact that the soloist took up the opening theme, not the orchestra, and that a solo cadenza came already in the introduction - something that Sibelius and Tchaikovsky would also follow. The success was immediate. But in Nazi Germany, Mendelssohn's greatness was denied and his name was erased from public life.

Gustav Mahler (1860-1911) Symphony No 1 "Titan" The first symphony was premiered in Budapest with the composer as conductor. The music attracted violent criticism, because this was something that was not expected. Mahler had made a name for himself as a brilliant opera conductor but as a composer he was virtually unknown, and now he came up with an ambitious, stylistically variegated and strangely personal symphony. Few works by Mahler have since undergone so many revisions - right up until 1898. When the first version was found in the 1960s, it was clear that the differences were large. The opening is compelling: it begins with an unforgettable feeling of space and stillness. Perhaps Mahler was thinking of when he was left alone in the forest by his father with the promise not to move until his father returned - and it took many hours. Gradually, thematic fragments emerge: horn calls, trumpet fanfares, birdsong. The second movement was first called "Full Sails" and reflects a longing for nature and lively, Austrian-inspired peasant dances. "Mourning march à la Callot" he called the third movement, and the etching intended by the artist shows the dead hunter being carried on a stretcher by the animals of the forest. It is a parodic picture and a highly parodic piece of music, which is based on the well-known children's song Frère Jacques in an ironic, grotesque and bitter minor version. In the trio part there is another quote from Lieder eines fahrenden Gesellen. The finale is the despair of a wounded heart. He borrowed the title of the movement from Dante: "From inferno to paradise". Music may seem to start in hell, and Mahler was probably a long way to paradise. But he didn't get there yet, he did so only in the second symphony - and it was started immediately after the first.

The Gothenburg Symphony was formed in 1905 and today consists of 109 musicians. The orchestra's base is Gothenburg Concert Hall at Götaplatsen that has gathered music lovers since 1935. 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. The title Principal Guest Conductor is shared by Pekka Kuusisto from 2025. 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 Santtu-Matias Rouvali, 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.

Felix Mendelssohn (1809-1847) Violin Concerto E minor Allegro molto appassionato Andante Allegretto non troppo. Allegro molto vivace Felix Mendelssohn came from a German-Jewish family and as a composer strove to reconcile issues of spirituality and religious tolerance within society, and within himself. The Violin Concerto in E minor was written for the soloist Ferdinand David. However, the wait was six years before the premiere could take place in Leipzig on March 13, 1845 with David and the Gewandhaus Orchestra. New was the transition to the second movement without a break, as well as the fact that the soloist took up the opening theme, not the orchestra, and that a solo cadenza came already in the introduction - something that Sibelius and Tchaikovsky would also follow. The success was immediate. But in Nazi Germany, Mendelssohn's greatness was denied and his name was erased from public life.

Gustav Mahler (1860-1911) Symphony No 1 "Titan" The first symphony was premiered in Budapest with the composer as conductor. The music attracted violent criticism, because this was something that was not expected. Mahler had made a name for himself as a brilliant opera conductor but as a composer he was virtually unknown, and now he came up with an ambitious, stylistically variegated and strangely personal symphony. Few works by Mahler have since undergone so many revisions - right up until 1898. When the first version was found in the 1960s, it was clear that the differences were large. The opening is compelling: it begins with an unforgettable feeling of space and stillness. Perhaps Mahler was thinking of when he was left alone in the forest by his father with the promise not to move until his father returned - and it took many hours. Gradually, thematic fragments emerge: horn calls, trumpet fanfares, birdsong. The second movement was first called "Full Sails" and reflects a longing for nature and lively, Austrian-inspired peasant dances. "Mourning march à la Callot" he called the third movement, and the etching intended by the artist shows the dead hunter being carried on a stretcher by the animals of the forest. It is a parodic picture and a highly parodic piece of music, which is based on the well-known children's song Frère Jacques in an ironic, grotesque and bitter minor version. In the trio part there is another quote from Lieder eines fahrenden Gesellen. The finale is the despair of a wounded heart. He borrowed the title of the movement from Dante: "From inferno to paradise". Music may seem to start in hell, and Mahler was probably a long way to paradise. But he didn't get there yet, he did so only in the second symphony - and it was started immediately after the first.

The Gothenburg Symphony was formed in 1905 and today consists of 109 musicians. The orchestra's base is Gothenburg Concert Hall at Götaplatsen that has gathered music lovers since 1935. 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. The title Principal Guest Conductor is shared by Pekka Kuusisto from 2025. 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 Santtu-Matias Rouvali, 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.

Initially, Sibelius believed this first symphony would be programmatic: a symphony telling of his homeland’s geology and the triumph of Christianity over paganism. But seven years after the success of his choral-orchestral work based Finnish folklore Kullervo, friends and critics were urging Sibelius to think in more rigorous symphonic terms. Finland, they argued, needed art that was more international than parochial – a symphony that stood its ground on musical terms alone. Such thinking would give the First Symphony its musical weight irrespective of political context. In his student days in Vienna and Berlin, Sibelius’s teachers had stressed the importance of working through musical themes – lathing them continuously until they were fit for purpose. Ultimately, Sibelius took that advice to a level that couldn’t have been anticipated. Already in this symphony, the composer was handling his material in a distinctive way. Its misty opening on a solitary clarinet doesn’t just prepare us for the shock of the movement’s fast-paced Allegro; it infiltrates the work’s musical ideas like nutrients in their soil. The shape of the clarinet’s theme can be detected in numerous fragments right up to the final bars. The fourth movement launches with a transfigured version of it on thrusting strings. That gesture speaks of another conceptual difference in Sibelius’s symphonic designs: his response to the colours and capabilities of instruments. In a departure from traditional Germanic symphonic argument (which would make sense on a piano), Sibelius allowed the particular colour of instruments and instrumental groups to shape the path of his music. The symphony’s opening clarinet solo presents one example. The long-held pedal notes in the slow Andante, and the pizzicatos of the Scherzo, two more. These led the critic Ernest Newman to conclude that ‘every page breathes of another manner of thought, another way of living, even another landscape.’ That ‘other way of living’ can be rationalized. The use of recitation – a note repeating itself, like something half-sung – has its roots in Finland’s runic singing tradition. Others have heard something distinctly Russian in the clarinet solo, in the fur-wrapped melancholy of the slow movement and in the feverish way in which the final Allegro molto erupts. It’s in this movement that we hear Sibelius at his most unique. The organic treatment of themes continues. But as part of that process, the movement appears to reconcile the symphony’s poles of energy and stasis in a way only Sibelius could have conceived: by tricking us into assuming the music is operating at one distinct velocity when it’s actually locked into another. Andrew Mellor, from Sibelius: Symphony 1 & En Saga; Rouvali & Göteborgs Symfoniker (Alpha, 2019)

The Gothenburg Symphony was formed in 1905 and today consists of 109 musicians. The orchestra's base is Gothenburg Concert Hall at Götaplatsen that has gathered music lovers since 1935. 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. The title Principal Guest Conductor is shared by Pekka Kuusisto from 2025. 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 Santtu-Matias Rouvali, 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.

Initially, Sibelius believed this first symphony would be programmatic: a symphony telling of his homeland’s geology and the triumph of Christianity over paganism. But seven years after the success of his choral-orchestral work based Finnish folklore Kullervo, friends and critics were urging Sibelius to think in more rigorous symphonic terms. Finland, they argued, needed art that was more international than parochial – a symphony that stood its ground on musical terms alone. Such thinking would give the First Symphony its musical weight irrespective of political context. In his student days in Vienna and Berlin, Sibelius’s teachers had stressed the importance of working through musical themes – lathing them continuously until they were fit for purpose. Ultimately, Sibelius took that advice to a level that couldn’t have been anticipated. Already in this symphony, the composer was handling his material in a distinctive way. Its misty opening on a solitary clarinet doesn’t just prepare us for the shock of the movement’s fast-paced Allegro; it infiltrates the work’s musical ideas like nutrients in their soil. The shape of the clarinet’s theme can be detected in numerous fragments right up to the final bars. The fourth movement launches with a transfigured version of it on thrusting strings. That gesture speaks of another conceptual difference in Sibelius’s symphonic designs: his response to the colours and capabilities of instruments. In a departure from traditional Germanic symphonic argument (which would make sense on a piano), Sibelius allowed the particular colour of instruments and instrumental groups to shape the path of his music. The symphony’s opening clarinet solo presents one example. The long-held pedal notes in the slow Andante, and the pizzicatos of the Scherzo, two more. These led the critic Ernest Newman to conclude that ‘every page breathes of another manner of thought, another way of living, even another landscape.’ That ‘other way of living’ can be rationalized. The use of recitation – a note repeating itself, like something half-sung – has its roots in Finland’s runic singing tradition. Others have heard something distinctly Russian in the clarinet solo, in the fur-wrapped melancholy of the slow movement and in the feverish way in which the final Allegro molto erupts. It’s in this movement that we hear Sibelius at his most unique. The organic treatment of themes continues. But as part of that process, the movement appears to reconcile the symphony’s poles of energy and stasis in a way only Sibelius could have conceived: by tricking us into assuming the music is operating at one distinct velocity when it’s actually locked into another. Andrew Mellor, from Sibelius: Symphony 1 & En Saga; Rouvali & Göteborgs Symfoniker (Alpha, 2019)

The Gothenburg Symphony was formed in 1905 and today consists of 109 musicians. The orchestra's base is Gothenburg Concert Hall at Götaplatsen that has gathered music lovers since 1935. 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. The title Principal Guest Conductor is shared by Pekka Kuusisto from 2025. 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 Santtu-Matias Rouvali, 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 Gothenburg Symphony was formed in 1905 and today consists of 109 musicians. The orchestra's base is Gothenburg Concert Hall at Götaplatsen that has gathered music lovers since 1935. 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. The title Principal Guest Conductor is shared by Pekka Kuusisto from 2025. 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 Santtu-Matias Rouvali, 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.

Santtu-Matias Rouvali was Chief Conductor of the Gothenburg Symphony in the years 2017-2025. Since 2021, he is Chief conductor of Philharmonia Orchestra and also honorary conductor of the Tampere Philharmonic Orchestra back home in Finland. He collaborates with top-level orchestras and soloists across Europe, including the Münchner Philharmoniker, Berliner Philharmoniker, Orchester Philharmonique de Radio France, Deutsches Symphonie-Orchester Berlin, Orchestra dell'Accademia Nazionale di Santa Cecilia, Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra and Tonhalle-Orchester Zürich. He also works with the Chicago Symphony Orchestra, the Cleveland Orchestra and the New York Philharmonic. International soloists with whom Rouvali plays are 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, Ava Bahari and Arabella Steinbacher. During his long tenure with the Gothenburg Symphony Orchestra, Rouvali performed over 100 concerts in the Great Hall and made over 30 recordings and live concerts for the digital concert hall GSOplay. His collaboration with the orchestra included successful tours in the Nordic countries, Austria, Germany and the Czech Republic, as well as a six-volume Sibelius recording with the Alpha Classics label. The releases have been acclaimed with awards such as the Gramophone Editor's Choice award, Choc de Classica, the prestigious French Diapason d'Or 'Découverte', and the Radio Classiques 'TROPHÉE'. Santtu-Matias Rouvali also has an extensive record label with Philharmonia Records.

The choir was founded in 1917 by cousins Elsa and Wilhelm Stenhammar. Elsa Stenhammar was one of the driving forces in turn-of-the-century choir life in Gothenburg and became the choir's first rehearser. On December 8, 1917, the choir debuted in Beethoven's Choir Fantasy with Wilhelm Stenhammar as soloist at the grand piano. As the country's oldest symphonic choir, they were able to celebrate their 100th anniversary in 2017 with a big celebratory concert where Mozart and Brahms as well as Stenhammar, Elfrida Andrée and Björn & Benny were on the program. The Gothenburg Symphony Choir is a non-profit association that is linked to the Gothenburg Symphony. The choir participates in concerts and performances under both the orchestra's and its own auspices. The music is mixed and the repertoire extensive. The Gothenburg Symphony Choir has participated in concerts in, among other places, the Royal Albert Hall and Canterbury Cathedral in England, as well as participated with the Gothenburg Symphony in the annual music festival in the Canary Islands and on a tour to China.

The Gothenburg Symphony was formed in 1905 and today consists of 109 musicians. The orchestra's base is Gothenburg Concert Hall at Götaplatsen that has gathered music lovers since 1935. 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. The title Principal Guest Conductor is shared by Pekka Kuusisto from 2025. 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 Santtu-Matias Rouvali, 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 Gothenburg Symphony was formed in 1905 and today consists of 109 musicians. The orchestra's base is Gothenburg Concert Hall at Götaplatsen that has gathered music lovers since 1935. 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. The title Principal Guest Conductor is shared by Pekka Kuusisto from 2025. 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 Santtu-Matias Rouvali, 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.

Truls Mørk is an acclaimed cellist and performs with the most prominent orchestras including the Orchestre de Paris, Berliner Philharmoniker, Vienna Philharmonic, Concertgebouw Orchestra, Munich Philharmonic, Philharmonia and London Philharmonic and Gewandhausorchester Leipzig. In North America, he has appeared with the New York Philharmonic, Philadelphia Orchestra, Cleveland Orchestra, Boston Symphony Orchestra and Los Angeles Philharmonic. Conducting collaborations include Esa-Pekka Salonen, David Zinman, Manfred Honeck, Gustavo Dudamel, Sir Simon Rattle, Kent Nagano, Yannick Nézet-Séguin and Christoph Eschenbach, among others. In the 2024-2025 season, Mørk returned to the Rotterdam, London and Bergen Philharmonic Orchestras, RAI Turin, Orchestre Phiharmonique de Radio France and the ORF Vienna Radio Symphony Orchestra. Truls Mørk is a great advocate for contemporary music and has given over 30 world premieres. He has performed Esa-Pekka Salonen's Cello Concerto with a number of prominent orchestras, Victoria Borisova-Olla's Cello Concerto Oh Giselle Remember Me, Rautavaara's Towards the Horizon, Pavel Haas's Cello Concerto with the Vienna Philharmonic and Jonathan Nott, Penderecki's Concerto for Three Cellos with the Hafliði Symphony Orchestra and Charles Hallgrímsson's Cello Concerto commissioned by the Oslo Philharmonic, Iceland Symphony and the Scottish Chamber Orchestra. He last visited the Gothenburg Symphony in season 2016-2017 when he was Artist in Residence.

The Gothenburg Symphony was formed in 1905 and today consists of 109 musicians. The orchestra's base is Gothenburg Concert Hall at Götaplatsen that has gathered music lovers since 1935. 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. The title Principal Guest Conductor is shared by Pekka Kuusisto from 2025. 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 Santtu-Matias Rouvali, 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.

Truls Mørk is an acclaimed cellist and performs with the most prominent orchestras including the Orchestre de Paris, Berliner Philharmoniker, Vienna Philharmonic, Concertgebouw Orchestra, Munich Philharmonic, Philharmonia and London Philharmonic and Gewandhausorchester Leipzig. In North America, he has appeared with the New York Philharmonic, Philadelphia Orchestra, Cleveland Orchestra, Boston Symphony Orchestra and Los Angeles Philharmonic. Conducting collaborations include Esa-Pekka Salonen, David Zinman, Manfred Honeck, Gustavo Dudamel, Sir Simon Rattle, Kent Nagano, Yannick Nézet-Séguin and Christoph Eschenbach, among others. In the 2024-2025 season, Mørk returned to the Rotterdam, London and Bergen Philharmonic Orchestras, RAI Turin, Orchestre Phiharmonique de Radio France and the ORF Vienna Radio Symphony Orchestra. Truls Mørk is a great advocate for contemporary music and has given over 30 world premieres. He has performed Esa-Pekka Salonen's Cello Concerto with a number of prominent orchestras, Victoria Borisova-Olla's Cello Concerto Oh Giselle Remember Me, Rautavaara's Towards the Horizon, Pavel Haas's Cello Concerto with the Vienna Philharmonic and Jonathan Nott, Penderecki's Concerto for Three Cellos with the Hafliði Symphony Orchestra and Charles Hallgrímsson's Cello Concerto commissioned by the Oslo Philharmonic, Iceland Symphony and the Scottish Chamber Orchestra. He last visited the Gothenburg Symphony in season 2016-2017 when he was Artist in Residence.

Denmark's national composer began work on his third symphony in 1910. He was in an explosive creative phase, possibly triggered by a marriage in crisis, with underlying frustration and guilt. The symphony is one of his most life-affirming works. Around the same time, Nielsen developed close ties to Gothenburg. Here he conducted several times and found an artistic soulmate in the Symphony Orchestra's chief conductor Wilhelm Stenhammar. The two shared both aesthetics and ideals: music that speaks directly, organically and freely – unbound by the heavy veils of romanticism. Sinfonia Espansiva begins forcefully with several unison orchestral thrusts, as if Nielsen wants to open the gates to a new room, where pent-up energy can swirl freely. The music with a driving motoric quality, especially in the strings – constantly in motion, constantly on the move – is reflected in the concluding fourth movement, but is then less heroic and more dance-like and playful. Drive and melody that constantly expands, that is what Nielsen might think of as the meaning of his invented word espansiva. The slow second movement is the heart of the work – a lyrical idyll where two voices, soprano and baritone, emerge in wordless dialogue. What do the voices want to convey to each other? Probably love and happiness.

Ludwig van Beethoven (1770-1827) Symphony No 7 Half Viennese classicist, half romantic, but mostly Beethoven. That's how we're used to seeing him, but he had other sides as well. In both the 6th and 7th symphonies, the folklorist Beethoven appears. In the former he depicts dancing peasants (third movement), and in the seventh symphony he delivers a finale built around a folk dance. Of course, in Beethoven's artful and powerful arrangement - he is incredibly driving, thrusting with weight and force into the chords at an accelerating pace. This restless, rhythmic rondo is one of his most explosive creations. The symphony opens slowly, with upward movements (fast versus slow) contrasted with a pretty, dancing trio. Note Beethoven's orchestral dramaturgy as he strips away the score from the full orchestra until only a flute and an oboe remain. Then the main theme takes over, heralding the 9th Symphony's An die Freude. In the thematic development work, one can often discern the struggle of the lonely against the many, a constantly recurring theme in Beethoven's music. The well-known allegretto in movement two is definitely the symphony's pièce de résistance. This variation movement must have seemed like a very strange animal in Beethoven's time: an evocative passacaglia with a rhythmic figure - one long, two short, two long - pulsating throughout the movement. Above this, Beethoven weaves and develops new parts that increase in strength and scope and then thin out and tone down. The swells are crowned by a couple of solid climaxes. This is Bach and the future at once, the innovative polyphony that would blossom fully in the late string quartets and piano sonatas. The third movement is a scherzo to everything but the name – never have boisterous male laughter (the low strings) and female laughter cascades (the woodwind) been depicted so vividly as here. Beethoven also achieves unusual harmonic effects when he lets the trumpets lie on pedal notes above (reversed!) the melody in the rest of the orchestra. The symphony was first performed on 8 December 1813 together with the almost farcical commissioned work Wellington's Victory, including crevados, cannons and a fugato on God save the King. There is no doubt as to which work is the better.

The Gothenburg Symphony was formed in 1905 and today consists of 109 musicians. The orchestra's base is Gothenburg Concert Hall at Götaplatsen that has gathered music lovers since 1935. 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. The title Principal Guest Conductor is shared by Pekka Kuusisto from 2025. 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 Santtu-Matias Rouvali, 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.

Denmark's national composer began work on his third symphony in 1910. He was in an explosive creative phase, possibly triggered by a marriage in crisis, with underlying frustration and guilt. The symphony is one of his most life-affirming works. Around the same time, Nielsen developed close ties to Gothenburg. Here he conducted several times and found an artistic soulmate in the Symphony Orchestra's chief conductor Wilhelm Stenhammar. The two shared both aesthetics and ideals: music that speaks directly, organically and freely – unbound by the heavy veils of romanticism. Sinfonia Espansiva begins forcefully with several unison orchestral thrusts, as if Nielsen wants to open the gates to a new room, where pent-up energy can swirl freely. The music with a driving motoric quality, especially in the strings – constantly in motion, constantly on the move – is reflected in the concluding fourth movement, but is then less heroic and more dance-like and playful. Drive and melody that constantly expands, that is what Nielsen might think of as the meaning of his invented word espansiva. The slow second movement is the heart of the work – a lyrical idyll where two voices, soprano and baritone, emerge in wordless dialogue. What do the voices want to convey to each other? Probably love and happiness.

Ludwig van Beethoven (1770-1827) Symphony No 7 Half Viennese classicist, half romantic, but mostly Beethoven. That's how we're used to seeing him, but he had other sides as well. In both the 6th and 7th symphonies, the folklorist Beethoven appears. In the former he depicts dancing peasants (third movement), and in the seventh symphony he delivers a finale built around a folk dance. Of course, in Beethoven's artful and powerful arrangement - he is incredibly driving, thrusting with weight and force into the chords at an accelerating pace. This restless, rhythmic rondo is one of his most explosive creations. The symphony opens slowly, with upward movements (fast versus slow) contrasted with a pretty, dancing trio. Note Beethoven's orchestral dramaturgy as he strips away the score from the full orchestra until only a flute and an oboe remain. Then the main theme takes over, heralding the 9th Symphony's An die Freude. In the thematic development work, one can often discern the struggle of the lonely against the many, a constantly recurring theme in Beethoven's music. The well-known allegretto in movement two is definitely the symphony's pièce de résistance. This variation movement must have seemed like a very strange animal in Beethoven's time: an evocative passacaglia with a rhythmic figure - one long, two short, two long - pulsating throughout the movement. Above this, Beethoven weaves and develops new parts that increase in strength and scope and then thin out and tone down. The swells are crowned by a couple of solid climaxes. This is Bach and the future at once, the innovative polyphony that would blossom fully in the late string quartets and piano sonatas. The third movement is a scherzo to everything but the name – never have boisterous male laughter (the low strings) and female laughter cascades (the woodwind) been depicted so vividly as here. Beethoven also achieves unusual harmonic effects when he lets the trumpets lie on pedal notes above (reversed!) the melody in the rest of the orchestra. The symphony was first performed on 8 December 1813 together with the almost farcical commissioned work Wellington's Victory, including crevados, cannons and a fugato on God save the King. There is no doubt as to which work is the better.

The Gothenburg Symphony was formed in 1905 and today consists of 109 musicians. The orchestra's base is Gothenburg Concert Hall at Götaplatsen that has gathered music lovers since 1935. 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. The title Principal Guest Conductor is shared by Pekka Kuusisto from 2025. 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 Santtu-Matias Rouvali, 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.

Carl Nielsen (1865-1931) Flute Concerto Nielsen tailored the music to the intended musician, and since the flutist Holger Gilbert-Jespersen was a tasteful and elegant man with a Gallic temperament, his concert was bright and chamber-musical, but with unexpected outbursts. The music is characterized by vitality and good mood. In a typical Nielsen way, the music eventually finds its way to the right key. Originally it was in D major, but immediately after the premiere on 21 October 1926 at the Salle Gaveau in Paris, the composer reworked the concerto and had it end in E major. The flute has then been out on many tonal excursions and now seems to have difficulty finding home; by chance, the boozy bass trombone enters the game and happens to be right - and therefore also takes credit from the soloist. One readily agrees with the Swiss composer Arthur Honegger, who was present at the premiere of the concert: "It has small dimensions but is filled with beautiful combinations, such as the dialogues between flute and timpani or bassoon. It is piquant, flowing and not without humor."

The Gothenburg Symphony was formed in 1905 and today consists of 109 musicians. The orchestra's base is Gothenburg Concert Hall at Götaplatsen that has gathered music lovers since 1935. 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. The title Principal Guest Conductor is shared by Pekka Kuusisto from 2025. 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 Santtu-Matias Rouvali, 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 Gothenburg Symphony was formed in 1905 and today consists of 109 musicians. The orchestra's base is Gothenburg Concert Hall at Götaplatsen that has gathered music lovers since 1935. 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. The title Principal Guest Conductor is shared by Pekka Kuusisto from 2025. 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 Santtu-Matias Rouvali, 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.