Harding meets Widmann x 2

Music director Daniel Harding has recovered after he took ill earlier this week. The rehearsal has therefore been partly led by the young conductor of Finnegan Downie Dear, who also conducts Sibelius Valet Triste at the week’s concerts.

As a composer, it is not a bad thing to have a skilled musician in the family. As a 16-year-old clarinettist, Jörg Widmann started writing down his improvisations in order to remember them. Since then, he has dedicated his time as a composer, alongside his career as a clarinettist and conductor, to exploring non-traditional approaches to music and instruments – preferably together with his younger sister, violinist Carolin Widmann. ”Having Carolin there to conduct my wildest experiments is wonderful,” he said in an interview.

The Widmann siblings were born into a family of amateur musicians in Munich. Both have an impressive CV each, with numerous awards and engagements worldwide. Jörg Widmann’s newly written Violin Concerto no 2, dedicated to Carolin, was premiered in Tokyo in August 2018, conducted by Jörg himself. ”It was a magical evening. Afterwards, I heard that many associated the concerto with Kabuki and Noh performances. I was happy that the piece felt like a drama. Not much happens, but what happens is of great importance.” In Stockholm, Daniel Harding will conduct the performance. ”He is like a brother to me and knows my music really well, so the concerto is in the best possible hands.”

Benjamin Britten wrote his song cycle Nocturne for Alma Mahler. The two met in New York in 1942 and began a correspondence. In 1958, when Britten asked her permission to dedicate his new piece to her, the answer arrived by telegram: “My happiness is great. I cannot feel or think of anything else. My deepest thanks!” Nocturne, written for tenor soloist, flute, cor anglais, clarinet, bassoon, harp, French horn, timpani and strings, presents eight poems by Shelley, Tennyson, Coleridge, Middleton, Wordsworth, Owen, Keats and Shakespeare. In each part of the through-composed piece, a solo instrument emerges beside the solo vocalist.

Andrew Staples, one of Britain’s most versatile tenors, with everything from Händel and Mozart to Britten and Elgar in his repertoire, is a frequent partner to Daniel Harding and the Swedish Radio Symphony Orchestra. Staples is also a director and a portrait photographer.

Text: Anna Hedelius

Please notice the programme change. Instead of Schoenberg’s Verklärte Nacht we will hear Valse Triste and Finlandia by Jean Sibelius.