Brahms' second piano concerto

Icelandic Víkingur Ólafsson is currently one of the world's most acclaimed and sought-after pianists. The New York Times coined him ”Iceland's Glenn Gould”, and his recordings are showered with five-star reviews. This season, he is the Artist-in-Residence at Konserthuset Stockholm.

Following the success of Bach's Goldberg Variations, which he performed to a full house here at Konserthuset last season, he now takes on another of the classical music world's great B's – Brahms. He presents Beethoven's late piano sonatas in a solo recital a few days before this concert, and now Brahms with the Royal Stockholm Philharmonic Orchestra.

Brahms was at the height of his fame and ironically referred to composing a "tiny piano concerto" in letters. It is, of course, quite the opposite, with music brimming with drama, passion, and sincerity. Unlike his first, Brahms's second piano concerto was a success right from its premiere.

French conductor Stéphane Denève also leads the Royal Stockholm Philharmonic Orchestra in American Stacy Garrop's beautiful Penelope Waits from 2013, inspired by Greek mythology, and mythological music with dance themes by Paul Dukas and Richard Strauss.