Musical Motivation From Sweden

October 2004 concerts

Musical Motivation From Sweden

Throwing off the ‘Scandinavian’ label

The chamber music season that marks the real start of the ambitious From

between English and Swedish musicians with a rare programme of comparative

and contrasting music from composers of both countries.
Boldly challenging the concept of commercially safe programming and familiar

musical fare, the overriding aim of From Sweden is to introduce music lovers

to new Swedish repertoire : in this case new because it has been largely

neglected - mostly in favour of more popular and familiar work - and because

it is seldom performed. Audiences are called to put their trust in the directors

and high-calibre performers and motivate themselves to discover the unknown…

From Sweden.
Lidström claims that Edvin Kallstenius' D major Sonata from 1906 is never

played, not even in Sweden. Kallstenius (1881-1967) is considered a highly

individual, often idiosyncratic composer, who drew his inspiration from a wide

variety of musical sources – from Schoenberg’s 12-tone technique to the folk

music of Sweden, from Berwald to Strauss. (Kallstenius’ most popular work,

played a few times recently at the Athens Olympics, is his arrangement of the

Swedish national anthem.)


Arthur Benjamin’s Sonatina was written for the 13-year old child prodigy cellist Lorne Munroe, who later became principal cellist with the Philadelphia and New York Philharmonic Orchestras. Benjamin (1893-1960) was forever tagged with his ‘big hit’ Jamaican Rumba whose popularity obscured his immense range and versatility in many compositional genres. Australian-born Benjamin lived in London most of his adult life - a teacher, composer, mentor and pianist whose circle of friends included the likes of Howells, Bliss and Goossens.
Benjamin was one of many turn-of-the-19^th-century composers taught by Charles Villiers Stanford (1852-1924), whose Nonet will be played by the ECO Chamber Ensemble. Nowadays very little is performed of his huge body of work, although he was fundamental to the great blossoming of music in England by the mid 20^th century, both through his teaching and his own composition.
Finally, Franz Berwald’s early Septet from the first half of the 19^th century.

Berwald’s music became more recognised by audiences in his native Sweden in the 20^th century - after his own lifetime – and he is better know for his great symphonies, rather than his chamber work. As a composer he had great technique and adventurous flair, although he did not live by music alone (along with music he was a businessman in areas as diverse as orthopaedic instruments, sawmills, glassworks and social activism).

Debra Boraston DBPR ASSOCIATES

T. 00 44 (0)20 7483 1950 E. debra@henrymoorestudio.co.uk

www.henrymoorestudio.co.uk/dbpr www.from-sweden.com

BOOKING INFORMATION AND TICKETS Wigmore Hall Box Office: Tel. 020 7935 2141 www.wigmore-hall.org.uk

Coming to the Wigmore Hall in November From Sweden: Mats Lidström, Martin Fröst and Simon Crawford-Phillips.

Further Facts From Sweden

Performers From Sweden

MATS LIDSTRÖM - Cellist , Artistic Director From-Sweden Born in Stockholm, Sweden, but currently living in London, Mats Lidström combines performing with teaching and composing. As a soloist he has performed with some of the world's leading orchestras, including the London Symphony Orchestra, Royal Philharmonic Orchestra, Deutsche S.O. Berlin, the Czech Philharmonic, Dallas Symphony, RPO Stockholm and the Gothenburg S.O., working with conductors such as V.Ashkenazy, A.Previn, A.Litton, F.Welser-Möst, O.Kamu and L.Sergerstam. As a chamber musican his fellow performers include Elizabeth Söderström, Anne Sofie von Otter, Lynn Harrell, Roland Pöntinen and Peter Jablonski. His passion for, and research of, neglected but beautiful music for his instrument, has resulted in several highly acclaimed CDs. With his duo partner of many years, Bengt Forsberg, he has recorded for Hyperion, Caprice and Musica Sveciae. As a soloist he has recorded concertos by Elgar, Kabalevsky, Khatchaturian, de Frumerie, Wirén, and a world premier by the Spanish composer R. Groba. As a chamber musician he appears with von Otter on DG, and Salerno-Sonnenberg and Harrell on EMI. Of his many acclaimed compositions, the most recent is "Suite Tintin", 9 scenes from the Tintin Adventures for cello and piano, to be released on CD later in 2004.

Bengt Forsberg – Pianist Bengt Forsberg studied at the Gothenburgh School of Music and Musicology, where he first majored in organ, whereafter, in 1978, he received his diploma as piano soloist. Although he often appears as soloist with major symphony orchestras in Sweden and Scandinavia, much of his renown is focused on his work as a chamber musician, both in Sweden and abroad – as soloist as well as together with other prominent instrumentalists, such as cellist Mats Lidström (with whom he has made several recordings for Hyperion) and violinist Nils-Erik Sparf. His collaboration with mezzo soprano Anne Sofie von Otter has been particularly successful and they regularly perform all over the world. They have also made many joint recordings for Deutsche Grammophon, which have received great international acclaim. Forsberg´s repertoire is exceptonally wide and he has become particularly renowned for playing unknown music by well-known composers as well as for exploring lesser-known and unjustly neglected composers, such as Medtner, Korngold, Alkan, Chabrier and Sorabji. He is also the music director of a Chamber Music Series and Festival in Stockholm.

Malena Ernman - Mezzo-soprano In the last few years, the young Swedish mezzo Malena Ernman has become one of the most sought after artists of her generation. Her breakthrough came in 1998 with spectacular interpretations of of Kaja in Sven-David Sandström’s Staden and of Rosina in The Barber of Seville at the Royal Opera in Stockholm. Since then she has performed key roles throughout Europe including Staatsoper Unter den Linden in Berlin as Cherubino in Le Nozze di Figaro under the leading of Daniel Barenboim, as well as in the part of Rosina in The Barber of Seville. She has worked with René Jacobs in productions of Handel’s Agrippina and Scarlatti’s Griselda in Berlin, Brussels, Innsbruck and Paris and appeared in the title role of Carmen at the Royal Opera in Stockholm and as Rosina at the Finnish National Opera. During the summer of 2002 she made her UK/Glyndebourne debut as Nancy in Albert Herring. In the summer of 2004 she performed the role of Lichas in Hercules with Les Arts Florissants and William Christie in Aix-en-Provence, Paris and Vienna. Malena Ernman’s repertoire ranges from baroque to modern music. With genuine musicality and radiant stage personality she sings Italian baroque opera with the same naturalness as she sings German lieder or French chansons. Season 2001/2002 she appeared as Sally Bowles in Cabaret at the Royal Dramatic Theatre in Stockholm. Malena Ernman received her education at the Conservatory of Orléans, France, and at the Royal Academy of Music and the University College of Opera in Stockholm.

Composers From Sweden