Göteborgs Konserthus Stravinsky up close

Igor Stravinsky (1882-1971) Concerto in E flat "Dumbarton Oaks" Tempo giusto Allegretto Con moto Igor Stravinsky skrev denna lilla konsert under den kanske svåraste tiden i sitt liv. Han fick en beställning på musikstycke från ett societetspar i Washington DC som skulle fira 30-årig bröllopsdag. Stravinsky, hans fru och dotter hade alla blivit sjuka i tuberkulos och befann sig på sanatorium i Schweiz. Trots det svåra läget tog han mod till sig och skrev konserten medan han intensivt studerade Bach. Uppbyggnaden med de tre satserna Tempo giusto, Allegretto, Con moto liknar Brandenburgkonserterna. Stravinsky berättar själv: “Jag spelade Bach regelbundet under kompositionsarbetet och var mycket fäst vid Brandenburgkonserterna. Men om första satsens öppningstema är ett medvetet lån från tredje Brandenburgkonserten kan jag inte avgöra. Vad jag däremot kan säga med säkerhet är att Bach skulle ha glatt sig mycket över att få låna mig något; det var precis sådant han själv tyckte om att göra. Konserten har tre korta satser med fugainslag i yttersatserna.” Kort efter komponerandet avled både hustru och dotter i sjukdomen. Den svårt medtagne Stravinsky lät Nadia Boulanger dirigera premiären i Washington den 8 maj 1938. Barbara Hannigan beskriver konserten som väldigt känslosam. Hon spelade in den på skiva 2024 med elever från Juilliard School tillsammans med en rad andra av Stravinskys kammarverk. Jenny Svensson

The premiere of this work in New York in 1920 was a fiasco and the work was described as over-excited and aggressive. We recognize the critics' tone from the premiere of The Rite of Spring. The two works have much in common; the chromaticism and the violent rhythms. The Concertino was commissioned by the Flonzaley Quartet that delighted American and European audiences in the years 1905-28. The work in one movement has a clear concertant character with the first violin in the lead role. This is reflected in the piece's name, which means Little Concerto. The piece's two musical ideas are the harsh ascending scale movement that begins the work. Generally speaking, the movement can be said to have sonata form with an exposition, development and reprise, even though it has moved away considerably from Haydn's sonata allegros. A calm coda concludes. In 1952, Stravinsky arranged the work for violin, cello and 10 wind instruments. The American chamber musician and critic Melvin Berger writes about the piece: “As in most of his works, Stravinsky tries to avoid any clear expression of emotion.” And Stravinsky himself, like Carl Nielsen, held the view that it was in the nature of music to be incapable of expressing anything at all: “Expression has never been an inherent property of music.” We music consumers are at least grateful that music can at least arouse emotions.

1. Akahito, dedicated to Maurice Delage 2. Mazatsumi, dedicated to Florent Schmitt 3. Tsaraiuki, dedicated to Maurice Ravel

1. La Petite Pie 2. Le Corbeau 3. Tchitcher-Iatcher

The Picasso of art music, with the modernist breakthrough The Rite of Spring, was in constant stylistic transformation. His career ran parallel to that of his antithesis Arnold Schönberg. Stravinsky's rhythmic clarity and stylistic versatility were contrasted with Schönberg's structural radicalism. It was only after Schönberg's death (1951) that Stravinsky himself began to work with the twelve-tone music that was Schönberg's invention. Septet (1953) marks Stravinsky's transition from neoclassicism to twelve-tone technique and serial methods, but the work is still strongly rooted in Baroque form and counterpoint – something Stravinsky admired in Bach. Septet is written for an unusual and elegant setting: violin, viola, cello, clarinet, bassoon, horn and piano – an acoustic palette that provides both chamber music intimacy and symphonic breadth. The form is three-part. Stravinsky reinterprets the passacaglia in the second movement with his typical intellectual sharpness and subtle humor. It is music that both thinks and dances.

Soprano and conductor Barbara Hannigan is Principal Guest Conductor of the Gothenburg Symphony since 2019. Embodying music with an unparalleled dramatic sensibility, Barbara Hannigan is an artist at the forefront of creation. Her artistic colleagues include John Zorn, Krszysztof Warlikowski, Simon Rattle, Sasha Waltz, Kent Nagano, Vladimir Jurowski, Andreas Kriegenburg, Andris Nelsons, Esa Pekka Salonen, Christoph Marthaler, Antonio Pappano, Katie Mitchell, and Kirill Petrenko. The late conductor and pianist Reinbert de Leeuw has been an extraordinary influence and inspiration on her development as a musician. The Grammy Award winning Canadian musician has shown a profound commitment to the music of our time and has given the world première performances of nearly 100 new creations. Hannigan has collaborated extensively with composers including Boulez, Zorn, Dutilleux, Ligeti, di Castri, Stockhausen, Khayam, Sciarrino, Barry, Dusapin, Dean, Benjamin and Abrahamsen. A passionate musician of unique and courageous choices, Hannigan is renowned for creating innovative orchestral programs, combining new and older repertoire. In recent years she has been conducting world class orchestras including the Concertgebouw and Cleveland Orchestras, Montreal Symphony, Rome's Accademmia Nazionale di Santa Cecilia, has ongoing relationships with festivals including Aix en Provence and Spoleto, and has had starring soprano roles on opera stages including London's Covent Garden, Teatro San Carlo in Naples, Paris Opera's Palais Garnier, New York's Lincoln Center, and the opera houses of Berlin, Hamburg and Munich. The past few seasons have brought a new presentation of Poulenc's opera La Voix Humaine, and recent world premieres include Golfam Khayam's I am not a tale to be told with Iceland Symphony Orchestra, John Zorn's Split the Lark and Star Catcher, Zosha di Castri's In the Half Light with the Toronto and Montreal Symphony Orchestras, new works by Sandström and Sciarrino, and a project with pianists Katia and Marielle Labeque inspired by the life and music of Hildegard von Bingen with new music from David Chalmin and Bryce Dessner. In the 2024-2025 season with the Gothenburg Symphony she performed the program Americana, which depicts USA in the making, as well as Mozart's Requiem and Berg's Violin Concerto with Veronica Eberle. She performed chamber music by Schönberg, Fauré and Chausson. She also guested London Symphony, Munich Philharmonic, Orchestre Philharmonique de Radio France, Danish Radio Symphony Orchestra, Iceland Symphony, l'Orchestre de Chambre de Lausanne and Kollegium Musicum WInterthur. In 2026 she will take the helm of Iceland Symphony Orchestra as their chief conductor and artistic director. Barbara’s commitment to the younger generation of musicians led her to create the mentoring initiatives Equilibrium Young Artists (2017), and Momentum: our Future Now (2020), both initiatives offering both guidance and performing opportunities to young professional artists. She was recently named the Reinbert de Leeuw Professor of Music at London's Royal Academy of Music and has been visiting professor at the Juilliard School in New York. On record, Barbara Hannigan’s fruitful relationship with Alpha Classics began in 2017 with the release of Crazy Girl Crazy, winning a Grammy and a Juno. More critically-acclaimed recordings followed, including Vienna: fin de siècle with pianist Reinbert de Leeuw, La Passione featuring works by Nono, Haydn and Grisey and Infinite Voyage, joining her colleagues of the Emerson String Quartet. In 2024 she released the ecstatic vocal works of Messiaen with pianist Bertrand Chamayou and a live recording of John Zorn’s compositions with pianist Stephen Gosling. Barbara Hannigan resides in Finistère, on the northwest coast of France.

Luis Castillo-Briceño was named Dudamel Fellow at the Los Angeles Philharmonic for the 2024-2025 season. The year before, he was a conducting fellow at the London Philharmonic Orchestra. In 2024, he also participated in the Philharmonia's tour of the United States and made his debuts during the season with the Sinfonieorchester St Gallen and the Philharmonie Luxembourg. He has been named a Rising Star by BBC Music Magazine and is an Equilibrium Young Artist with Barbara Hannigan since the 2020-2021 season. He won the 2024 Rotterdam Conducting Competition and was a semi-finalist in the 2023 German Conducting Award. Luis Castillo-Briceño is from Costa Rica and began his musical studies at the age of five playing violin. As a teenager, he became first flutist in the Orquesta Sinfonica Infantil de Costa Rica. He also has a bachelor's degree in piano from the Zurich University of Music and is currently completing his master's degree in orchestral conducting at the same school.