Salonen: Sinfonia concertante

It is time once again for a large organ concert at the Concert Hall! This time, conductor Esa-Pekka Salonen is on site to conduct his own composition, Sinfonia Concertante – a concerto for organ and orchestra. Salonen is a multifaceted artist, and a recent recipient of a Grammy Award for his recording of Kaija Saariaho’s opera Adriana Mater. His own compositions are powerful, often with a touch of humour, and not infrequently with electronic elements.

Sinfonia Concertante began to grow in spring 2020, when the world was stunned by the emerging pandemic. Esa-Pekka Salonen has explained that he initially struggled with the fact that a concert hall organ covers the entire spectrum of what an orchestra can produce in terms of sound, colour and dynamics.

The solution was to occasionally separate the organ and orchestra, so that the organ sometimes plays alone and sometimes plays as a small part of the orchestra.

As organ soloist in Salonen’s concerto, we have the pleasure to welcome back Olivier Latry, who has captivated audiences in Gothenburg before.

The concert was recorded in The Gothenburg Concert Hall in May 2026.

We hear Esa-Pekka Salonen in this concert thanks to the generous support of the Sten A. Olsson Foundation.