Name: Malin Byström sings Strauss
Start: 2027-01-16T15:00:00
Location: Berwaldhallen

Philippe Jordan

Malin Byström

Swedish Radio Symphony Orchestra

When three of the most distinctive musical voices of our time – conductor and composer George Benjamin, pianist Bertrand Chamayou and soprano Barbara Hannigan – come together, a program full of intensity, imagination and refined drama emerges. Maurice Ravel opens the evening with rhythmic brilliance and Spanish glow in Alborada del Gracioso, before Jean Sibelius and his enigmatic Luonnotar lead us into a world of myth and creation. Unsuk Chin’s piano concerto follows with explosive energy and sparkling colours, and after the intermission we immerse ourselves in Benjamin’s own Lessons in Love and Violence – music that unites clarity and passion. Finally, we return to Ravel with Rapsodie espagnole, where the lessons of love conclude in dance, heat and seductive shadows.

Lessons in love

Berwaldhallen

A concert filled with brilliant virtuosity and symphonic splendor awaits as Emilia Hoving leads the Swedish Radio Symphony Orchestra in a program that ranges from raw folk pulse to orchestral grandeur. Béla Bartók’s Dance Suite opens with its colourful cityscapes and rhythms from Central Europe, before trumpet master Håkan Hardenberger takes the stage in Karen Tanaka’s newly written Trumpet Concerto – a work filled with sparkling technical power. After the intermission, the evening culminates in Camille Saint-Saëns’ monumental Organ Symphony , where orchestra and organ together build a sound cathedral of majestic energy.

Hardenberger in Tanaka’s trumpet concerto

Love of my life – Nils Landgren & friends

Marta Gardolińska leads the Swedish world-renowned cellist Jakob Koranyi and the Swedish Radio Symphony Orchestra in Camille Saint-Saëns' beloved first cello concerto – a work that combines virtuoso elegance and dramatic heat. This is followed by Grazyna Bacewicz's colorful and powerful Musica sinfonica in tre movimenti , full of drive, sharpness and modern brilliance. The finale is a pure dance party, when Antonín Dvořák's Slavonic Dances fill Berwaldhallen with vitality and infectious energy.

From cello glow to Slavonic dances

When Thomas Adès conducts the Swedish Radio Symphony Orchestra, a concert awaits where the large-scale visions of romanticism meet the glow of modernism and Dante's dramatic underworld. Franz Liszt's Les Préludes opens with philosophical images of the origin of the world, before Tomo Keller and Sascha Bota take the stage in Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart's brilliant Sinfonia concertante, one of the most beloved works for violin and viola. After the intermission, the atmosphere deepens in the 100th anniversary jubilee György Kurtág's concentrated and charged Movement for Viola and Orchestra , before Adès himself leads us into his own musical interpretation of Inferno – a suite that vibrates with sharp contours, humour, heat and brilliant imagination.

Mozart, Liszt & Dante’s Inferno

When the turn of the century dance scene underwent major changes, a new world of sounds, colours and rhythmic imagination opened. Under the direction of Anton Holmer, the Swedish Radio Symphony Orchestra takes you through a time when ballet moved from playful folk to modernist elegance. The Swedish Ballet in Paris was a force that drove development forward both scenically and musically with works such as Darius Millhaud's Le Creation du Monde (The Creation of the World), Kurt Atterberg's De fåvitska Jungfruna (the foolish virgins) and Manuel de Falla's El sombrero des tres pices (the three-tipped hat). Maurice Ravel's Une barque sur l'océan then glides forward like an impressionist dream ship in a concert that brings new life to the ballet music of the turning point.

Ballet at the turn-of-the-century

When Humlan Djojj loses his way, he ends up in the middle of Berwaldhallen, surrounded by a live orchestra buzzing like a whole world of insects. At the same time, he’s searching for his friend Flugan Flax, who is calling for help after getting stuck in a bass tuba. Together with his friends and the musicians, Djojj sets off on a playful musical adventure. A warm and interactive concert experience for the whole family, where Djojj’s Grammy-nominated music meets the Swedish Radio Symphony Orchestra.

Humlan Djojj on an adventure with the Swedish Radio Symphony Orchestra

One of the most magnificent and moving works in music history fills Berwaldhallen as Roberto González-Monjas conducts the Swedish Radio Symphony Orchestra, the Swedish Radio Choir and the Eric Ericson Chamber Choir in Giuseppe Verdi's monumental Messa da Requiem. With a world-class international soloist quartet, the entire drama of the work is brought to life: from the quiet prayer in Requiem to the blazing Dies irae, the shimmering consolation in Lux aeterna and the despairing cry in Libera me. A musical experience where the expressive power of opera meets the depth of devotion.

Verdi’s Requiem

Vienna's rich musical tradition takes center stage when Daniel Harding conducts the Swedish Radio Symphony Orchestra in a program where the elegance of the Viennese waltz meets the bold modernism of the 20th century. The evening opens with music by Johann Strauss the Younger, which captures the city's vibrant pulse and timeless charm. The mood shifts as Richard Strauss's sensual Dance of the Seven Veilsfrom the opera Salomesheds new light on Vienna's extravagance. After the intermission, Francesco Piemontesi takes his place in Arnold Schoenberg's concentrated, expressive piano concerto, before the evening culminates in Maurice Ravel's Vienna's rich musical tradition takes center stage when Daniel Harding conducts the Swedish Radio Symphony Orchestra in a program where the elegance of the Viennese waltz meets the bold modernism of the 20th century. The evening opens with music by Johann Strauss the Younger, which captures the city's vibrant pulse and timeless charm. The mood shifts as Richard Strauss's sensual Dance of the Seven Veils from the opera Salome sheds new light on Vienna's extravagance. After the intermission, Francesco Piemontesi takes his place in Arnold Schoenberg's concentrated, expressive piano concerto, before the evening culminates in Maurice Ravel's La Valse – a swirling, decadent tribute to and reckoning with the glory days of the Viennese waltz. Expect a concert where Vienna appears in all its splendour, both traditional and subversive. La Valse – a swirling, decadent tribute to and reckoning with the glory days of the Viennese waltz. Expect a concert where Vienna appears in all its splendour, both traditional and subversive.

Music from Vienna

British conductor Adam Hickox makes his debut with the Swedish Radio Symphony Orchestra and a program that opens with Samuel Barber’s overture to the opera The School of Scandal, a veritable firework of esprit and tangled intricacies. Sofija Gubajdulina’s dreamlike Fairytale Poem follows, a piece where the contours of the fairy tale emerge in subtle colours. The evening reaches its climax with Edward Elgar’s beloved Enigma Variations, where both friendship and enigma are woven together into one of orchestra music’s most iconic works.

Elgar’s Enigma Variations

Conductor and arranger Hans Ek returns together with singers Magnus Carlson, Moto Boy and Jennie Abrahamsson to David Bowie’s iconic Berlin Trilogy. Drawing on the albums Low, Heroes and Lodger, they create a hauntingly evocative exploration of one of the most influential periods in pop history.

Bowie in Berlin

Kazuki Yamada conducts a concert where Rome's fountains sparkle and shimmer in Ottorino Respighi's masterful tone paintings, and Leonidas Kavakos brings new life to Karol Szymanowski's second Violin Concerto in an expression that combines technical brilliance and lyrical beauty. After the intermission, Pyotr Tchaikovsky's energetic Symphony No. 3 takes on a dance-friendly rhythm, leading to a finale that truly bursts with life.