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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.

Mårten Larsson was born in Örebro and trained at the Royal Academy of Music under Alf Nilsson. He has been a leading oboist in Sweden for many years and is solo oboist in the Gothenburg Symphony Orchestra. He has also been a member of the Stockholm Sinfonietta. Mårten Larsson teaches at the Gothenburg Academy of Music and Drama and has released albums with music by Johan Helmich Roman, JS Bach and Keith Jarrett, among others.

Lisa Ford has been the principal horn player in the Gothenburg Symphony Orchestra for 30 years. Lisa is an active chamber musician and soloist and a member of the ensemble Gageego!. She is a senior lecturer at the Gothenburg Academy of Music and Performing Arts and a mentor in the master's program in symphony orchestra performance, she is a horn teacher and teaches wind and chamber music ensembles. Lisa Ford is educated at the Interlochen Arts Academy. She has been a member of the Civic Orchestra of Chicago and has a diploma from the Norwegian Academy of Music, NMH. She was previously assistant principal horn player in the San Diego Symphony Orchestra. She is also a certified professional coach.

Justyna Jara began playing the violin when she was seven years old. After winning a prize at a competition for young violinists in Gdansk, Poland, she continued her studies in Warsaw with Miroslaw Lawrynowicz. During her studies, she won prizes in several violin competitions. She also recorded Wieniawski's Etudes Caprices Op 10 and 18 for the Acte Préalable record label as a tribute to her teacher. She studied for a year at the Chopin University in Warsaw and then at Juilliard in New York, working with orchestras such as the London Symphony Orchestra, the London Philharmonic Orchestra, the Philharmonia Orchestra and the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra, often as assistant concertmaster. In 2014, she was appointed second concertmaster of the Gothenburg Symphony Orchestra.

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.

Mårten Larsson was born in Örebro and trained at the Royal Academy of Music under Alf Nilsson. He has been a leading oboist in Sweden for many years and is solo oboist in the Gothenburg Symphony Orchestra. He has also been a member of the Stockholm Sinfonietta. Mårten Larsson teaches at the Gothenburg Academy of Music and Drama and has released albums with music by Johan Helmich Roman, JS Bach and Keith Jarrett, among others.

Lisa Ford has been the principal horn player in the Gothenburg Symphony Orchestra for 30 years. Lisa is an active chamber musician and soloist and a member of the ensemble Gageego!. She is a senior lecturer at the Gothenburg Academy of Music and Performing Arts and a mentor in the master's program in symphony orchestra performance, she is a horn teacher and teaches wind and chamber music ensembles. Lisa Ford is educated at the Interlochen Arts Academy. She has been a member of the Civic Orchestra of Chicago and has a diploma from the Norwegian Academy of Music, NMH. She was previously assistant principal horn player in the San Diego Symphony Orchestra. She is also a certified professional coach.

Justyna Jara began playing the violin when she was seven years old. After winning a prize at a competition for young violinists in Gdansk, Poland, she continued her studies in Warsaw with Miroslaw Lawrynowicz. During her studies, she won prizes in several violin competitions. She also recorded Wieniawski's Etudes Caprices Op 10 and 18 for the Acte Préalable record label as a tribute to her teacher. She studied for a year at the Chopin University in Warsaw and then at Juilliard in New York, working with orchestras such as the London Symphony Orchestra, the London Philharmonic Orchestra, the Philharmonia Orchestra and the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra, often as assistant concertmaster. In 2014, she was appointed second concertmaster of the Gothenburg Symphony Orchestra.

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.

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.

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.

Mårten Larsson was born in Örebro and trained at the Royal Academy of Music under Alf Nilsson. He has been a leading oboist in Sweden for many years and is solo oboist in the Gothenburg Symphony Orchestra. He has also been a member of the Stockholm Sinfonietta. Mårten Larsson teaches at the Gothenburg Academy of Music and Drama and has released albums with music by Johan Helmich Roman, JS Bach and Keith Jarrett, among others.

Erik Risberg was employed as a pianist in the Gothenburg Symphony Orchestra from 1995 to 2023, also performing on organ, harpsichord and other keyboard instruments. He regularly performed as a chamber musician, including in a piano duo with Bengt Forsberg. Erik Risberg has also been a valued teacher of musical performance at the Gothenburg Academy of Music and Drama for many years and also gives introductions at the Symphony Orchestra's concerts.

Claes Gunnarsson has toured all over the world as a soloist, chamber musician, orchestral musician and teacher. He made an early and acclaimed debut as soloist in Dvorák's Cello Concerto with the Gothenburg Symphony Orchestra. Shortly afterwards he was appointed principal cellist of the orchestra, a position he has held since 1999. As soloist, Claes has appeared in some of the world's most prestigious concert halls, including Wigmore Hall, Queen Elizabeth Hall, St. Petersburg Philharmonie, Shanghai Symphony Hall, Seoul Arts Center and Singapore Symphony Hall. He has also appeared at leading international festivals such as La Folle Journée in Nantes, Music@Menlo in California, Mecklenburg-Vorpommern, Affinis in Japan, Yuri Temirkanov's Winter Festival in St. Petersburg and the Qingdao International Cello Festival. Conductors he has collaborated with include Neeme Järvi, Kent Nagano, Santtu-Matias Rouvali, Alexander Lazarev, Christian Zacharias and Christopher Warren-Green. As a chamber musician, Claes has collaborated with prominent musicians such as Leonidas Kavakos, Nikolaj Znaider, Christian Zacharias and Hélène Grimaud. Of particular significance is his nearly 25-year collaboration with violinist Sara Trobäck and pianist Per Lundberg in the piano trio Trio Poseidon. The trio has toured extensively both nationally and internationally and made a critically acclaimed recording of Beethoven's Triple Concerto and Brahms' Double Concerto together with the Gothenburg Symphony Orchestra and Neeme Järvi for Chandos Records. For Chandos Records, he has also recorded Weinberg's Cello Fantasy and Cello Concerto together with the Gothenburg Symphony Orchestra and Thord Svedlund. The recording of the cello concerto was awarded the Diapason d'Or award. He is also represented on BIS Records with the premiere recording of Albert Schnelzer's cello concerto. Claes is regularly invited as a guest solo cellist with, among others, the Oslo Philharmonic, the BBC Symphony Orchestra and the London Symphony Orchestra. In parallel with his concert performances, he is active as a teacher at the Academy of Drama and Music at the University of Gothenburg. Claes plays a cello built in 1707 by David Tecchler, generously on loan from the Järnåker Foundation.

Mårten Larsson was born in Örebro and trained at the Royal Academy of Music under Alf Nilsson. He has been a leading oboist in Sweden for many years and is solo oboist in the Gothenburg Symphony Orchestra. He has also been a member of the Stockholm Sinfonietta. Mårten Larsson teaches at the Gothenburg Academy of Music and Drama and has released albums with music by Johan Helmich Roman, JS Bach and Keith Jarrett, among others.

Erik Risberg was employed as a pianist in the Gothenburg Symphony Orchestra from 1995 to 2023, also performing on organ, harpsichord and other keyboard instruments. He regularly performed as a chamber musician, including in a piano duo with Bengt Forsberg. Erik Risberg has also been a valued teacher of musical performance at the Gothenburg Academy of Music and Drama for many years and also gives introductions at the Symphony Orchestra's concerts.

Erik Risberg was employed as a pianist in the Gothenburg Symphony Orchestra from 1995 to 2023, also performing on organ, harpsichord and other keyboard instruments. He regularly performed as a chamber musician, including in a piano duo with Bengt Forsberg. Erik Risberg has also been a valued teacher of musical performance at the Gothenburg Academy of Music and Drama for many years and also gives introductions at the Symphony Orchestra's concerts.

Claes Gunnarsson has toured all over the world as a soloist, chamber musician, orchestral musician and teacher. He made an early and acclaimed debut as soloist in Dvorák's Cello Concerto with the Gothenburg Symphony Orchestra. Shortly afterwards he was appointed principal cellist of the orchestra, a position he has held since 1999. As soloist, Claes has appeared in some of the world's most prestigious concert halls, including Wigmore Hall, Queen Elizabeth Hall, St. Petersburg Philharmonie, Shanghai Symphony Hall, Seoul Arts Center and Singapore Symphony Hall. He has also appeared at leading international festivals such as La Folle Journée in Nantes, Music@Menlo in California, Mecklenburg-Vorpommern, Affinis in Japan, Yuri Temirkanov's Winter Festival in St. Petersburg and the Qingdao International Cello Festival. Conductors he has collaborated with include Neeme Järvi, Kent Nagano, Santtu-Matias Rouvali, Alexander Lazarev, Christian Zacharias and Christopher Warren-Green. As a chamber musician, Claes has collaborated with prominent musicians such as Leonidas Kavakos, Nikolaj Znaider, Christian Zacharias and Hélène Grimaud. Of particular significance is his nearly 25-year collaboration with violinist Sara Trobäck and pianist Per Lundberg in the piano trio Trio Poseidon. The trio has toured extensively both nationally and internationally and made a critically acclaimed recording of Beethoven's Triple Concerto and Brahms' Double Concerto together with the Gothenburg Symphony Orchestra and Neeme Järvi for Chandos Records. For Chandos Records, he has also recorded Weinberg's Cello Fantasy and Cello Concerto together with the Gothenburg Symphony Orchestra and Thord Svedlund. The recording of the cello concerto was awarded the Diapason d'Or award. He is also represented on BIS Records with the premiere recording of Albert Schnelzer's cello concerto. Claes is regularly invited as a guest solo cellist with, among others, the Oslo Philharmonic, the BBC Symphony Orchestra and the London Symphony Orchestra. In parallel with his concert performances, he is active as a teacher at the Academy of Drama and Music at the University of Gothenburg. Claes plays a cello built in 1707 by David Tecchler, generously on loan from the Järnåker Foundation.

Cellist Johan Stern is principal conductor of the Gothenburg Symphony Orchestra and teaches cello, chamber music and orchestral playing at the Academy of Music and Performing Arts. He studied at the Royal Academy of Music in Stockholm and at the Juilliard School in New York. As a member of Gageego!, the Gothenburg Ensemble for New Music, he has premiered several solo works by our leading Nordic composers. Johan Stern has participated in a number of international festivals and as a soloist and chamber musician has performed with figures such as Bobby McFerrin, Edward Gardner, Petri Sakari, Kristjan Järvi, Daniel Müller-Schott and Levon Chilingirian. During his studies at Juilliard, he had the privilege of collaborating with several internationally renowned musical figures, including cellist Yo-Yo Ma and composers Elliott Carter and John Cage.

Erik Risberg was employed as a pianist in the Gothenburg Symphony Orchestra from 1995 to 2023, also performing on organ, harpsichord and other keyboard instruments. He regularly performed as a chamber musician, including in a piano duo with Bengt Forsberg. Erik Risberg has also been a valued teacher of musical performance at the Gothenburg Academy of Music and Drama for many years and also gives introductions at the Symphony Orchestra's concerts.

Orkesterkommentar: Till Göteborgs Symfonikers stora projekt hör framförandet av Liszts samtliga symfoniska dikter. Minns ni det? Idén kom från förre intendenten Sven Kruckenberg som med iver och envishet såg till att Liszts 13 tondikter och två symfonier framfördes i Göteborgs Konserthus. Projektet påbörjades med Dantesymfonin den 17 oktober 1968 under Norman Del Mars ledning och avslutades med Heroïde funèbre den 28 oktober 1977 med Peter Maag som dirigent. Ett riktigt maratonlopp! Reaktionerna var blandade men den följande diskussionen livlig och uppfriskande. Sven Kruckenberg minns själv: ”En stor del av orkestern förstod sig inte på Liszt, men många i publiken tog emot honom med intresse. ”Synen på Liszts musik har i mångt och mycket förändrats sedan dess vilket Jan Ling bland annat tar upp i sin intressanta bok Franz Liszt och 1800-talets konstmusik (Gidlunds, 2009). Franz Liszt är tveklöst en av senromantikens stora förgrundsfigurer. Han mer eller mindre uppfann den symfoniska dikten som enligt ordboken är en ”orkesterkomposition i fri form och symfonisk stil med utpräglat programmatiskt innehåll, vanligtvis ensatsig”. Les préludes betecknas i Liszts verkförteckning också som Symfonisk dikt nr 3. Pluralformen Les préludes är något förbryllande. Liszt skrev och framförde verket första gången 1848 som preludium till sitt stora kör- och orkesterverk De fyra elementen. När stycket reviderats och första gången spelades i sin nya form i Weimar 1854 lade Liszt till raden ”Efter Lamartine” på titelbladet. Där syftar han på en dikt av den franske lyrikern Alphonse de Lamartine (1790-1869) som ingår i samlingen Méditations poétiques från 1820. Titelns pluralform får sin förklaring i Lamartines rader: ”Vad annat är vårt liv än en följd av preludier till den okända sång, vars högtidliga begynnelsetoner stäms upp av döden? Kärleken är varje tillvaros strålande morgonrodnad. Men vilket livsöde finns, vars första ljuva lycka inte brutits av något oväder, som med sin dödande stormvind krossat dess illusioner och med sin olycksbringande blixt splittrat dess altare?” Les préludes är typisk för den eklektiske Liszt. Här finns arvet från den preussiska militärmusiken (som även är tongivande hos Liszts förebild Beethoven) och romantikens ljuva klanger i skön förening med den typ av tematisk bearbetning (metamorfosteknik) och kromatisk äventyrlighet som Wagner skulle dra till sin spets. Liszt var för övrigt en stor inspirationskälla för Wagner som sedermera blev Liszts svärson. Les préludes fick ny aktualitet i 1940-talets Tyskland när Hitler valde stycket som signaturmusik till journalfilmer från nazisternas krigståg i Europa. Det kan Liszts musik inte lastas för men det säger oss något om dess attraktionskraft och karaktär med rötter som sträcker sig långt ner i det tyska kejsardömets psyke och historia. Stefan Nävermyr

Felix Mendelssohn (1809-1847) Symphony No. 4 in A, Op 90 "The Italian" Allegro vivace Andante con moto Con moto moderato Saltarello Presto No other composer - Mozart not excluded - has written such magnificently gifted music already as a child. Between the ages of eleven and fifteen, Felix Mendelssohn composed thirteen string symphonies, four operas, five concertos and countless chamber music works, in addition to piano and organ pieces, solo songs and choirs. And a great deal of this is still in the standard repertoire worldwide. He was the son of the wealthy banker Abraham, in whose home artists and musicians were constant guests. On Sundays, the banker used to organize concerts at his home in Berlin. Court musicians and the siblings Felix and Fanny appeared as soloists, and in the audience you could not infrequently find the philosopher Hegel or the scientist Humboldt. So it is perhaps not surprising that the talented Felix made such progress already in his boyhood. When he was fifteen years old, he began his first symphony for a full orchestra. He managed to write four more symphonies before his premature death at the age of only 38.

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.