Haydn and Dvorák

Due to illness, cellist Amalie Stalheim has been forced to cancel. This also results in a programme change for tonight's concert. Instead of Grażyna Bacewicz’s First Cello Concerto, we will hear the German cellist Julian Steckel perform Haydn’s First Cello Concerto.

The seas, lakes, streams, and rivers have always been important sources of inspiration for artists, poets, and composers. In Smetana's famous Moldau, celebrating its 200th anniversary, we hear how the bubbling smaller streams meander through the landscape before merging into the mighty river. The melody comes from an old folk song that we recognize as Ack Värmeland, du sköna. Perhaps Smetana heard the melody when he was working as a conductor in Gothenburg in the 1850s?

Like Smetana, Antonín Dvorák was from Czechia. In both their music, Czech culture and nature are important ingredients. Dvorák had great international success during his lifetime and was appointed, for example, as a composition professor in New York. His Symphony No. 9, "From the New World", is the most famous, but many consider his seventh symphony to be one of his very best works.

Julian Steckel steps in at the last minute as the soloist in a true classic: Joseph Haydn’s Cello Concerto No. 1 in C Major – a masterpiece that disappeared and was rediscovered almost 200 years later, in the mid-20th century (incidentally, in Prague, which adds a Czech connection to the programme). The renowned German cellist Julian Steckel is admired for his emotional depth and communication with audiences. His career took off after winning the ARD Music Competition in 2010, and since then, he has performed with many of the world's leading orchestras.

The Royal Stockholm Philharmonic Orchestra is led by German conductor Ruth Reinhardt – currently involved in the Royal Swedish Opera's production of Verdi's La traviata in spring 2024. She made her debut with the Royal Stockholm Philharmonic Orchestra at a summer concert in 2018.