NEW YEAR'S CONCERT WITH THE STOCKHOLM STRAUSS ORCHESTRA
As tradition requires, Stockholm Strauss Orchestra will perform New Year’s concerts in the Berwaldhallen concert hall. Once again under the direction of the superb Mika Eichenholz, who playfully swings the baton in well-known works by Johann, Josef and Eduard Strauss. There will also be new additions to the repertoire.
These concerts are for the curious, as well as for those who wish to hear the well known waltzes and polkas from the New Year’s concert in Vienna. They are presented by opera singer Marianne Eklöf. Together with tenor Tobias Westman, mezzo-soprano Marianne Eklöf also sings popular songs from the world of operetta.
Dancers from Stockholm Dance Academy BASE23 break the law of gravity with unparalleled choreographies created for this year’s New Year’s concert by Judith Simon.
Stockholm Strauss orchestra’s New year’s concert is for everyone, the whole family, young and old.
Is it possible for the New Year to be more festive than with music by the Strauss family? With all of the participants in an exuberant good mood and maybe a glass of sparkling wine during the intermission? Treat yourself, and let yourself be seduced by sparkling music, languishing waltzes and fast-paced polkas. As you hum these beautiful melodies and perhaps slightly tipsy, you dance on into the snow covered, starry New Year’s night.
Let us look forward to New Year’s bells and the new year, forward to new adventures and new hopes.
Unforgettably exiting!
You are most welcome to celebrate the New Year with Sweden’s most festive symphony orchestra.
Happy New Year!
Stockholm Strauss Orchestra
Read more on the Strauss Orchestra’s website.
www.straussorkestern.org
PROGRAM:
Johann Strauss II – Die Sanguiniker. Waltz
Josef Strauss – Aus der Ferne. Polka-Mazurka
Johan Strauss II – Leichtes Blut. Polka schnell
Joseph Hellmesberger – Heinzelmännchen
Franz Lehár – ”The Merry Widow”: Vilja-Lied
Johan Strauss II – Frühlingsstimmen. Waltz
Eduard Strauss – Mit Extrapost. Polka schnell
Intermission 30 min
Josef Strauss – Dynamiden. Waltz
Franz Lehár – ”Land of Smiles”: You are my heart’s delight
Johann Strauss II – Spanish March
Deborah Henson-Conant – Baroque Flamenco for solo harp
Franz Lehár – ”The Merry Widow”: The Widow’s Waltz
Johann Strauss II – Tik-Tak. Polka schnell
Participants
Stockholm’s Strauss Orchestra was formed in 1992 as part of the Swedish Strauss Society formed in 1960. The driving force was Berth Vestergård, also one of the founders of the Swedish Strauss Society. The orchestra is modelled after and has the same instrumental setting as the Capelle Strauss orchestra, which operated under the direction of members of the Strauss family between 1827 and 1901. The orchestra also wears the same attire of red tails and white trousers that the Capelle Strauss musicians wore at court balls in Vienna.
Mika Eichenholz is Chief conductor of the Orquesta Sinfónica Universidad de Concepción in Chile. He is extensively involved with orchestras in various parts of the world and has guest conducted, amongst others, the Salzburg Mozarteum Orchestra, the Israel Philharmonic Orchestra and the Hamburger Symphoniker. In Sweden, in addition to the Strauss Orchestra, Eichenholz is often seen as a guest conductor of the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra, most recently in the concert for the opening of the Parliamentary session and the Dagens Nyheter open-air Gärdet concert. He has conducted at Gothenburg Opera, Wermland Opera, Malmö Opera and Folk Opera in Stockholm and has made a large number of cd recordings for EMI and Naxos to name but a few.
Marc Power comes from a family of musicians in Tashkent, Uzbekistan. After studying at the Moscow Conservatory, he played as 1st Concertmaster at the Bolshoi Academic Theatre, Opera and Ballet in Tashkent. In 1990 he moved to Sweden and was employed the following year by the Royal Swedish Opera Orchestra. He is concertmaster of the Stockholm Strauss Orchestra, Power Strings and the Stockholm Ensemble.
Marianne Eklöf is one of the great singers of our time. She is a mezzo-soprano and for many years has had the world as her field of work but has also been active at Malmö Opera and for 25 years belonged to the permanent ensemble at the Royal Opera in Stockholm. There she sung roles such as Octavian in The Rosenkavalier, Carmen, Eboli in Don Carlos, Brangäne in Tristan and Isolde, Ortrud in Lohengrin and not but least Klytaimnestra in Elektra. Eklöf is also active as a director and since 2019 she has been chairman of the Stockholm Strauss Orchestra.
Margareta Nilsson is the Strauss Orchestra’s harpist. She has also performed with most symphony and opera orchestras in Sweden. Margareta has participated in concerts with many artists in various genres, for example, Monsterrat Cabellé, Luciano Pavarotti, Helene Sjöholm, Peter Jöback, Marie Fredriksson, Robert Wells and others. She has performed in classical concerts as well as musicals and pop. Margareta is a much sought-after teacher and teaches at Lilla Akademien in Stockholm and Uppsala Kulturskola, where she has 15 harp students!
Judith Simon was trained at the Royal Swedish Ballet School and directly after completing her training was employed by the Royal Opera in Stockholm. Early in her career Judith performed solo roles and competed in international ballet competitions. This led to her being appointed soloist and premiere dancer. Judith’s strong technique and sparkling personality gave her many leading roles and soloist assignments during her career at the Royal Opera as well as international tours to, for example, Japan, the USA, Brazil, England, Italy and the Czech Republic. She is now active as a choreographer and teacher at Stockholm Dance Academy BASE23.
Bianca Johnson-Wessman, Mara Brusis, Thelise Jonséus and Ingrid Helgesen.
Stockholm Dance Academy BASE23. Anneli Alhanko and Eva Johnson have created a school where quality and joy of dancing are the focus. BASE23 offers professional training as well as hobby courses. Big and small dance dreams meet here, from the first tentative, tripping steps to the fully-fledged dancers and artists on their way out into working life.
Approximate concert length: 2 hours 30 minutes including intermission
External organiser: Stockholm Strauss Orchestra
Tickets
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