Göteborgs Konserthus Rachmaninoff The Bells

Allegro ma non tanto: The Silver Sleigh Bells Lento: The Mellow Wedding Bells Presto: The Loud Alarm Bells Lento lugubre: The Mournful Iron Bells. “You should compose this!” In the winter of 1912, Sergei Rachmaninoff received an anonymous letter. He was in Rome at the time to rest, but also for inspiration. Rachmaninoff rented the same apartment near the Piazza de Spagna where Tchaikovsky had lived and worked for a few decades earlier. In addition to the invitation, the letter contained a Russian translation of Edgar Allan Poe’s poem The Bells, translated into Russian by the poet Konstantin Balmont. The poem with bells from four different phases of life – from childhood, marriage, life crisis and death – was already divided into a symphony. The choral symphony The Bells (in Russian Kolokola) is based on a rich orchestration, with soloists and choir, where of course bells – both real and symbolic – sound throughout the work. The score includes celesta, glockenspiel, reed bells and xylophone, but piano, harp and high-pitched strings are also used to create the sonorous impression of ringing bells. A well-known doomsday theme also resonates in the orchestral fabric: Dies irae. The medieval Catholic falling four-tone phrase darkens in the background in the first three movements. Rachmaninoff lets the heavy doom lie in wait, then it liberately fades away in the fourth movement. But before that, the tones sound worthy the master of horror Edgar Allan Poe.

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 Vocal Ensemble (GSVE) was formed in 2016 and consists of 12 professional singers. The ensemble works both as part of the Gothenburg Symphony Choir in major symphonic works performed together with the Gothenburg Symphony, and as an independent ensemble under the direction of Katie Thomas. GSVE is a group of experienced and versatile singers, who perform varied programs and explore a wide repertoire, from medieval music to newly commissioned works. The ensemble has previously collaborated with, among others, the Helsingborg Symphony Orchestra and the Barockakademin Göteborgs Symfoniker and performs regular vocal programs both in Gothenburg's Concert Hall and around the Västra Götaland region.

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.

British conductor Nicholas Collon is Principal conductor of the Finnish Radio Symphony Orchestra since 2021. He is also the founder of Aurora Orchestra, based in London. From 2016 to 2021 he was Principal conductor of the Residentie Orkest in The Hague and from 2017 to 2022 he was the Principal guest conductor of the Gürzenich-Orchester in Cologne. Recent seasons he has guest-conducted the Orchestre National de France, the Dresden Philharmonic, the Frankfurt Radio Symphony, the Danish Radio Symphony Orchestra, Barcelona Symphony Orchestra, Munich Philharmonic and the WDR Symphony Orchestra. Collon has conducted over 250 new works, including UK or world premieres of works by Unsuk Chin, Brett Dean, Phillip Glass, Colin Matthews, Anna Meredith, Nico Muhly, Olivier Messiaen, Krzysztof Penderecki, Mark-Anthony Turnage, Judith Weir and Du Yun. In 2022, he released a Sibelius album with the Finnish Radio Symphony Orchestra (Ondine) to five-star reviews. Their album of works by Thomas Adès won the Diapason d'Or award, and they have since released two more albums with works by Wennäkoski and Bacewicz. Collon has also conducted opera extensively, including at Glyndebourne, English National Opera, Welsh National Opera, Oper Koeln and the Aldeburgh Festival. Born in London in 1983, he is a trained violinist, pianist and organist.

Soprano Iwona Sobotka gained international recognition when she won the Queen Elisabeth International Music Competition in Belgium. She was also awarded first prize at the Warsaw Singing Competition and first prize at the East & West Artists International Auditions in New York, which led to her debut at Carnegie Hall. Last season, Iwona Sobotka performed Verdi's Requiem with Riccardo Muti and the Orchestra National de France. She took on roles such as Aida and Turandot at the Teatr Wielki in Poznan, Amelia in Un ballo in maschera at the Slovak National Theatre, Gioconda at the Teatro Massimo Bellini in Catania and Desdemona in Otello at the Teatro Coccia in Novara. She also reprised roles such as Madama Butterfly and Rusalka in her home country of Poland. Highlights from previous seasons include several symphonic programs with Sir Simon Rattle, including Beethoven's Christ on the Mount of Olives and Symphony No. 9 with the Berliner Philharmoniker. She has also performed Janácek's Glagolitic Mass, Szymanowski's Stabat Mater and Brahms' Ein deutches Requiem. She has appeared with the Orchestre Philharmonique de Radio France, the Vienna Symphony Orchestra, the Berlin Radio Symphony Orchestra, the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra, the Mahler Chamber Orchestra and the Nashville Symphony, working with distinguished conductors such as Sir Colin Davis, Marek Janowski, Vladimir Jurowski, Marco Armiliato and Teodor Currentzis.

American tenor Daniel Brenna was recognized at the Gothenburg Opera in 2021 when he sang the title role in Wagner's opera Siegfried. The role has taken the American tenor to a number of different stages around the world, such as San Francisco Opera, Washington National Opera, Theater an der Wien, Budapest Wagner Days, Ravello Festival and Opéra Dijon. In 2025, he has played Parsifal in concert performances at Den Norske Opera and debuted as Tristan at Opéra de Lille. He has also performed in Salome at the Helsinki Opera. Daniel Brenna was educated in Boston and had an international breakthrough in Moses and Aaron at Opernhaus Zürich in 2011. In 2015, he made his debut at the Metropolitan Opera New York in Lulu, a production named the best of the year by the New York Times, and in 2016 he returned to the Metropolitan in Jenufa. He has also guested the Bilbao Opera House, the Nederlandse Opera Amsterdam, the Edmonton Opera, the Comic Opera Berlin, Leipzig Opera House, Aalto-Theatre Essen, Festival St. Margarethen and Munich Radio Symphony.

Lithuanian singer Kostas Smoriginas is a world leading baryton. He was recently seen on SVT as the Toreador in Carmen from Royal Opera House Covent Garden. He made his debut at the Deutsche Staatsoper in Berlin in this role, and has also performed it with the Berliner Philharmoniker and Sir Simon Rattle (recorded for EMI Classics) at the Salzburg Easter Festival, the Santa Fe Music Festival and the Dresden Semperoper. In the 2024-2025 season, Smoriginas sang the role of Jochanaan in Salome at the operas in Hanover, Antwerp and Malmö. At the Zurich Opera he performed Verdi's Requiem with the Deutsches Symphonie-Orchester Berlin, and made his debut at the Bayerische Staatsoper in Lohengrin. The previous season he appeared at the Hamburg Opera, with the Munich Radio Orchestra and at the Palau de les Arts Reina Sofía. He also sang the role of Orest in a concert performance of Elektra with the Accademia Nazionale di Santa Cecilia under Sir Antonio Pappano in Rome. Smoriginas studied at the Lithuanian Academy of Music and Theatre and represented his country in the BBC Cardiff Singer of the World Competition. He is a graduate of the Royal College of Music and has been a member of the Jette Parker Young Artist Programme at the Royal Opera House.