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Michail Glinka (1804-1857) Capriccio Brillante (Spanish ouverture nr 1) In 1844, Michail Glinka – “the father of Russian music” – left his homeland for Spain. Earlier, Glinka had shown great interest in Russian folk music. Now it was instead the Spanish that attracted. Spain in the 19th century had something foreign and exotic about it. After the golden age of the 17th century, the country had lost influence and become more culturally isolated. From a Western point of view, the country behaved on one hand superstitious and religious, on the other sinful and carnal. But unlike many others, Glinka actually tried to familiarize himself with their culture. He even learned Spanish. In Castile and Aragon, Glinka met the popular dance "jota aragonesa". Based on it, he wrote his first Spanish piece, Capriccio Brillante, or Spanish Overture No. 1, in which a light and dancing theme, after a dramatic introduction, blossoms and increases in intensity into pizzicati and castanets. Whether it is more authentic or not, we can leave unsaid.

Nikolaj Kapustin (1937-2020) Concerto No. 5 for piano and orchestra The interest in Nikolaj Kapustin's jazz-flavored music has only increased over the past 20 years. Not least thanks to recordings by pianists such as Yuja Wang, Marc-André Hamelin and Frank Dupree. Kapustin was born in 1937 in the town of Horlivka in eastern Ukraine. He had one foot in classical music and the other in jazz, which gave rise to his particular style. He himself never considered himself a jazz musician. He also never really stuck to improvising. However, the influences are clear. His improvisationally inspired piano music has been compared to, among others, Oscar Peterson. The Fifth Piano Concerto was composed in 1993 and consists of five movements in one sweep. It did not make its debut until 2023 in Germany. Kapustin appears here as Russia's answer to George Gershwin, only slightly wilder and more modern. After a short introduction, the piano enters with the instruction "a piacere" - as you wish! – and without a bar. Despite a very careful notation, the work gives a free and spontaneous expression. And it's fast!

Alexander Borodin (1833-1887) Symphony No. 2 Alexander Borodin composed his second symphony over a long period of time, between 1869 and 1876, and continued to polish it until his death. In his early works, he was influenced by classical music that originated in Russian folk music. The second symphony shows a developed and more original style. The symphony opens with a powerful unison theme that gives associations to Beethoven's Fifth. There is plenty of drama there. Parts of the symphony's material were also originally written for the abandoned opera Prince Igor (which he then picked up again in 1874). In the light and exuberant second movement, you can hear how Borodin was inspired by new brass instruments that he got to see and feel thanks to Rimsky-Korsakov. The finale is an exuberant and grand finale in major.

Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov (1844-1908) Capriccio espagnol Alborada - Variazioni - Alborada - Scena e canto gitano - Fandango asturiano Considering the interest that Michail Glinka devoted to Spanish music, it is perhaps not difficult to imagine that something would also rub off on his student Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov. In 1887 he wrote his great Spanish piece, Spanish capriccio in five movements for orchestra, in which he also explores Spanish rhythms and harmonies. This spanish capriccio would become one of Rimsky-Korsakov's most popular works. It was quickly followed in time by two more major orchestral works, the Russian Easter Overture and Scheherazade, which together demonstrate his orchestration and sensitivity to each instrument's personal timbre and technical possibilities. The spanish suite has its starting point in a fast and playful theme with inspiration from a dance from the region Asturias. The theme then returns in the middle movement in new combinations – and also towards the end where another Asturian dance plays the main role. With Rimsky-Korsakov, the spanish sound gets a sonorous and glittering design with lots of percussion and cymbals.

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 five-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.

Frank Dupree is one of the new generation's most versatile pianists and conductors. With infectious energy and unbridled enthusiasm, Dupree captivates audiences not only as a soloist, but also as a conductor and leader of his own jazz ensemble, the Frank Dupree Trio. Dupree's recordings of Nikolai Kapustin's piano concertos have attracted great international attention. Since 2023, he is artistic partner of the Württemberg Chamber Orchestra Heilbronn. During the 2024-2025 season, he will make his debut with London Symphony Orchestra, Frankfurt Radio Orchestra and Gothenburg Symphony Orchestra. Re-invitations take him to the SWR Symphony Orchestra, Stuttgarter Philharmoniker, Dortmunder Philharmoniker, Münchner Symphoniker, Robert Schumann Philharmonie Chemnitz, Göttinger Symphonie Orchester and Sinfonieorchester Liechtenstein. He also performs chamber music at the Alte Oper Frankfurt, Tonhalle Zürich, Konzerthaus Wien, Brucknerhaus Linz and Concertgebouw Amsterdam. He has previously played with Malmö Symphony Orchestra and conducted and played at Malmö Opera. With his trio (Jakob Krupp, double bass and Obi Jenne, drums), Dupree explores the intersection between jazz and classical music. Dupree's great interest in contemporary music is reflected in the premieres he has played both on record and on stage, and close collaborations with composers such as Wolfgang Rihm, HK Gruber, Péter Eötvös, Christian Jostand and Daníel Bjarnason. Dupree was born in 1991 in Rastatt, Germany, and is also an artist for Steinway.