Göteborgs Konserthus Vibrant Violin Concerto with Bahari

Zoltán Kodály (1882-1967) Galántai táncok Ancient Hungarian peasant music, still unchanged in the villages, began to be recorded by Zoltán Kodály and Bartók around 1905. Both composers were captivated by the unique Romani verbunkos music. In the small Slovak town of Galánta, fifty kilometers from Bratislava, next to the train line between Vienna and Budapest, there was a famous Romani music chapel that gave Kodály his earliest taste for orchestral sound. Dances from Galánta were written in 1933 for the 80th anniversary of the Budapest Philharmonic. The instrumentation for double flutes (plus piccolo), oboes, A-clarinets, bassoons, plus four horns, timpani, snare drum, glockenspiel, triangle and strings imitated such a verbunkos band with a solo clarinet in the lead role as the Romani tárogáto. The story goes that the Galánta pieces were originally composed during Hungary's struggle for independence under Turkish occupation. Verbunkos music began to be published in sheet music in the late 18th century, not least in Vienna, where both Mozart and Schubert were strongly influenced by it. Kodály uses the slow verbunkos introduction as a rondo theme in the following four dances as well as in the great final coda. It alone takes up more than half the length of the piece. As a respected professor at the Budapest Academy of Music and president of the Hungarian Academy of Sciences, and later an honorary doctor in Oxford and Berlin, Kodály would promote the importance of spontaneous folk music. This liberal orientation also permeated key earlier works such as the Háry János Suite of 1927 and the Dances from Marosszék of 1933, both of which, along with the Galánta Dances, were his most frequently performed works.

Paul Hindemith (1895-1963) Violin Concerto Mässig bewegte Halbe Langsam Lebhaft Before Paul Hindemith got his breake through as a composer, he was renowned as a skilled instrumentalist on the violin and later also on the viola and viola d’amore. His interest in these instruments was evident early on in his Bach-inspired Kammermusik from the 1920s, in which both the viola and the viola d’amore act as soloists. Despite this, Hindemith wrote only one violin concerto with full orchestra, a work that is usually pointed out as his best both for violin and in concert form, from 1939. The year before, in 1938, he left Germany because his wife had Jewish roots. When the violin concerto had its world premiere in Amsterdam in 1940, not long before the Nazis entered Holland, Hindemith and his wife were already in the United States. Over the next few decades, the concerto was performed regularly, but has since lost some of its popularity. Despite the troubled circumstances surrounding its creation, the violin concerto is an energetic and lively work. It is virtuosic, urbane, and encompasses everything from grandeur to lyrical intimacy.

Antonín Dvorák (1841-1904) Symphony No. 8 Op 88 A few years before Antonín Dvorák left for America, the Eighth Symphony grew during long walks in the woods and fields. The Eighth Symphony is the result of a conscious search for peace and harmony. When the storm sometimes roars for the sake of contrast, it only blows away the dry leaves and brings fresh air with it. It is a happily smiling music, a simple, folk fiddler's music that deviates from the strict symphonic traditions. The first movement begins with a sonorous cello theme that then returns twice during the movement; in the introduction to the development and in the recapitulation. The movement closely follows the sonata form despite the great changes in emotion. The slow movement is an adagio in C minor that is built up from a string of beautiful episodes. Then follows a graceful and elastic waltz before the finale once again presents a short introduction consisting of a trumpet solo. This solo also recurs a few times, including as a pianissimo accompaniment to solo flute and played by trumpets and horns. An outward-looking coda concludes the symphony. On 2 February 1890, this G major symphony was premiered with the composer himself conducting the National Theatre Orchestra in Prague, and he also conducted performances in London and Frankfurt shortly afterwards. The symphony would soon triumph around the world, and alongside the Ninth Symphony (From the New World), written in America, it became the most beloved of his symphonies. The symphony was dedicated to the "Bohemian Franz Joseph Academy for the Promotion of Art and Literature", in thanks for Dvorák becoming its honorary member.

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.

Jaime Martín is Chief Conductor of the Melbourne Symphony Orchestra since 2022. He has also been Music Director of the Los Angeles Chamber Orchestra since 2019 and Chief Conductor of Ireland's RTÉ National Symphony Orchestra. He was Artistic Director and Chief Conductor of the Gävle Symphony Orchestra 2013-2022. In Spain, he holds the position of Principal Guest Conductor of the Spanish National Orchestra. Highlights of recent seasons have included debuts with the Dallas and Indianapolis Symphony Orchestras and the Dresden Philharmonic, an extensive tour of the UK with the Gävle Symphony Orchestra, and his debut performance as a conductor at the BBC Proms with the BBC National Orchestra of Wales. He has also guested with the Budapest Festival Orchestra, the Royal Swedish Philharmonic, the Queensland Symphony, the Colorado Symphony, the BBC National Orchestra of Wales, the Orquesta Sinfonica de Galicia and the Orquesta Sinfonica de Castilla y Leon. His discography includes Mozart's wind concertos with the London Symphony Orchestra, a series for Ondine Records with the Gävle Symphony Orchestra including Brahms' Serenades, Brahms' choral works with the Eric Ericsons Chamber Choir, and works by Swedish composer Melcher Melchers. Before taking on full-time conducting in 2013, Martín was principal flautist with the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra, Chamber Orchestra of Europe, English National Opera, Academy of St Martin in the Fields and London Philharmonic Orchestra, and a sought-after soloist.

The violinist Ava Bahari is Artist in Residence at Gothenburg Symphony Orchestra for her second Season 2025-2026. She gave her first solo concert at age eight in the Gothenburg Concert Hall. She studied at the Oslo Music Academy's Young Artist Program under the tutelage of Prof. Terje Moe Hansen and 2011 to 2015, she continued her studies with Prof. Per Enoksson in Gothenburg Symphony. Ava Bahari has studied Bachelor and Master at the Hochschule für Musik Hanns Eisler Berlin under the guidance of Prof. Kolja Blacher and received her Diploma in May 2024. In 2021, she also completed a degree at the Accademia Stauffer in Cremona, Italy. Ava Bahari has received numerous awards including 3rd Prize at the Premio Paganini Competition in Genova, 4th Prize at the Concours International Tibor Varga in Sion in 2021, and 1st Prize at the Aurora Music Competition in Stockholm in 2019. Bahari has worked with conductors such as Santtu-Matias Rouvali, Pekka Kuusisto and Ryan Bancroft and performed with esteemed orchestras such as the Royal Stockholm Philharmonic Orchestra, Gothenburg Symphony Orchestra, Teatro Carlo Felice Genova, Baden-Baden Philharmonie, Malmö Symphony Orchestra, The Philharmonia Orchestra, Tokyo Symphony Orchestra, Helsinki Philharmonic and BBC National Orchestra of Wales. Some of her more notable recital performances include a Paganini recital at the Seoul Arts Center, a recital on the "Stauffer" Guarneri del Gesù 1734 in museo del Violino Cremona and a recital in Konzerthaus Berlin. Ava Bahari has also received music and culture scholarships from Sten A Olsson's Foundation for Research and Culture, Royal Society of Science and Knowledge in Gothenburg and the Willinska Foundation. With the Gothenburg Symphony, she made her soloist debut in January 2023 in Schönberg's violin concerto. She plays a 1694 Stradivarius Ovcharov on generous loan from Anders Sveaas Almennyttige Fond.