Unbreakable – Lviv National Philharmonic Orchestra

We celebrate Europe Day this year at a time when war rages in Europe. As an expression of the common values on which EU cooperation rests and which Ukraine now defends, Sweden is for the first time ever guested by the Lviv National Philharmonic Orchestra, performing music that has never been performed before in Sweden.

Behind the European Festival – Ukrainian Spring are multiple cultural institutions through the network European Union National Institutes for Culture (EUNIC), in partnership with the European Commission and the Swedish EU Presidency to highlight Ukrainian culture and provide support to the people of Ukraine.

Lviv National Philharmonic Orchestra is one of the oldest symphony orchestras in Ukraine. It formed the same year as the Royal Stockholm Philharmonic Orchestra, in 1902. Richard Strauss, Gustav Mahler, Ruggiero Leoncavallo, Kurt Masur and many other familiar names from the world of music have worked with this orchestra. Now they are performing in Sweden for the first time, led by 26-year-old Yaroslav Shemet, who was born in Kharkiv. He is artistic director of the Silesian Philharmonic Symphony Orchestra in Katowice, Poland, general musical director of the Baltic State Opera in Gdansk and first guest conductor of the Neue Philharmonie Hamburg.

We hear music by Mykola Lysenko (1842–1912) who is considered the father of Ukrainian music, Myroslav Skoryk (1938–2020) – known to Swedish audiences for his variations of Ack Värmland, and lastly, Borys Latosinsky (1895–1968) – whose Symphony No. 3 is a requiem, saturated with crushing tragedy, and often compared to Mahler’s major symphonies. 

During the European Festival, with the theme of Ukrainian Spring and which is in Stockholm from 14 April through 9 May, opportunities abound to discover the richness of Ukrainian culture through theatre, film, concerts, art exhibitions, literature and lectures. Prominent Ukrainian and European cultural figures appear at venues including Konserthuset, Moderna Museet, Artipelag and Kulturhuset.

The concert marks the end of the European Festival – Ukrainian Spring, where proceeds from ticket sales go to Radiohjälpen's ongoing collection for humanitarian efforts in Ukraine.

Read more at European Festival: Ukrainian Spring (opens in a new window)

***

At the same time, Konserthuset’s public foyer presents the exhibition Unbreakable, with 26 works of art by 17 Ukrainian artists, who continue their creative practices in Ukraine, despite the war.