Le Vin Herbé
Peter Dijkstra is the Music director of the Swedish Radio Choir who has holded his position longest, second-hand the legendary Music director Eric Ericson. Now, the time has come for Dijkstra to step down from his 11-year mission – year´s that have meant a great development for the choir and brought a long series of successes, including internationally.
Le Vin Herbé, Frank Martin’s musical interpretation of the legend of Tristan and Isolde, is, in every way, a far cry from Wagner, but still in a league of its own; a human oratorio, an intimate and emotional story of love and death.
Martin himself called the piece, the chamber opera that is more influenced by Bach than Wagner, even if the background story is the same, a ‘human oratorio’. In spite of the small ensemble and a focus on storytelling rather than dramatisation, Martin’s setting of the medieval love story is just as strong and gripping. Here, Peter Dijkstra, who is himself a passionate fan of Frank Martin’s music, and the Swedish Radio Choir perform Le Vin Herbé in a concerto format, but don’t let that stop you from getting wrapped up in the immortal drama and the enchanting music.
Participants
32 professional choristers make up the Swedish Radio Choir: a unique, dynamic instrument hailed by music-lovers and critics all over the world. The Swedish Radio Choir performs at Berwaldhallen, concert hall of the Swedish Radio, as well as on tours all over the country and the world. Also, they are heard regularly by millions of listeners on Swedish Radio P2, Berwaldhallen Play and globally through the EBU.
The award-winning Latvian conductor Kaspars Putniņš was appointed Chief Conductor of the Swedish Radio Choir in 2020. Since January 2019, its choirmaster is French orchestral and choral conductor Marc Korovitch, with responsibility for the choir’s vocal development.
The Swedish Radio Choir was founded in 1925, the same year as Sweden’s inaugural radio broadcasts, and gave its first concert in May that year. Multiple acclaimed and award-winning albums can be found in the choir’s record catalogue. Late 2023 saw the release of Kaspars Putniņš first album with the choir: Robert Schumann’s Missa sacra, recorded with organist Johan Hammarström.
Programme
Concert length: 2 h
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