2015/2016 SEASON PROGRAMME

SWEDISH RADIO SYMPHONY ORCHESTRASWEDISH RADIO CHOIR

CONTENTS 4 A concert hall for the curious – Interview with General Manager Helena Wessman

6 Berwaldhallen, the Swedish Radio Symphony Orchestra and the Swedish Radio Choir

7 Interplay

9 Striving for excellence – The Swedish Radio Choir and Peter Dijkstra

12 Sheer joy – The Swedish Radio Symphony Orchestra

14 A Music Director with the world as his stage – Interview with Daniel Harding

18 Ensembles and administrative staff

20 Children welcome

21 Chamber Unplugged Calling all booklovers Berwald Bonus Score – The world's best game music at Berwaldhallen

22 Open House at Berwaldhallen El Sistema St. Lucia Celebrations and Christmas music

Subject to change.

4 5

her favourite part of the job is when the last note has died away, the applause breaks out, and she can sneak backstage and meet the choir and the orchestra as they emerge from the stage with their hair standing on end, sweaty and happy, oozing euphoria: We survived: And we did a really good job!

"That beats everything", says Helena Wessman, general manager for Berwaldhallen.

We meet in the foyer of Berwaldhallen, empty at lunchtime, and the former trombonist glows as she describes her colleagues' happiness and the warmth of the audience.

"Then again, there is nothing more angry than an angry symphony orchestra", she says with a laugh, describing how dissatisfaction and irritation spread quickly through the strong collective of an orchestra and choir as though in a single organism.

"There isn't much space to be an individualist and if there is a major problem everyone is affected."

Helena Wessman has been general manager of Berwaldhallen, the Swedish Radio Symphony Orchestra and the Swedish Radio Choir since August 2014. Since she ended her musical career in the 1990s she has occupied several different roles as adminis-trator and manager, most as general manager of the Gothenburg Symphony Orchestra.

"The issues facing an orchestra are always fairly similar", she observes. But to also have a professional choir involved, and to work with the Swedish Radio, with public service broadcasting, is something new for her.

"It really excites me to think about how we can be even more radio-based. I want people to feel that they are entering a radio broadcasting centre, that the audience genuinely feels that they are involved in making radio."

Naturally, the core of the business is the orchestra and choir, but she wants to develop the collaboration with the editorial teams to achieve more cross-fertilisation. This extends to logistics as well.

"Why not have a broadcasting studio here?", she says, pointing to the foyer.

Of course people would still be able to listen to the concert 'as usual', but they would also be able to explore the programme through presentations and exchange knowledge.

"And people who really want to challenge them-selves and see the music in a wider context should also be able to do that."

Berwaldhallen's Interplay project is part of this, with music and lectures combined in a surprising and unusual manner.

"But sometimes people think that we are messing them about too much, that it's not what they're looking for when they just want to relax on a Friday evening."

Berwaldhallen also provides public service broad- casting, and with that, she insists, comes responsibility. A responsibility for increasing knowledge and aware-ness. A responsibility for challenging listeners and breaking new ground, just as much as for maintaining traditional values.

"We play music that is 250 years old, and we are proud of that part of our activities. I believe that humans have a very great need for rituals and ceremonies in connection with music."

When it comes to new music and male dominance among composers, she doesn't want to talk figures, but says that she would happily open with new works every week.

The challenge is to avoid frightening the audience away and convincing major international conductors

An orchestra and a choir among the world elite, together with an international concert hall that is also the Swedish Radio's broadcasting studio, affords food for thought for general manager Helena Wessman. Untroubled by such an illustrious setting, or the major challenges facing classical music, she has a firm belief in the future of Berwaldhallen.

A concert hall for the curious

Helena Wessman Photograph: Horacio Villalobos/TT

to learn these new works, that will perhaps only be performed in Stockholm.

"But there is no doubt that this requires targeted work. For example, new and really big works require so much more rehearsal time that we must work on a long-term basis; that we should have performed a certain number of new works within the next five year, for instance."

Much of what Helena Wessman wants to focus on is the kind of thing that Berwaldhallen is already good at and which it is important to continue doing with great pride. Such as Berwaldhallen's important role in the presentation of Swedish music and Swedish artists while at the same time being an international concert hall, including successful touring activities.

Activities aimed at children and young people are another key area. Part of this is El Sistema, a project that Berwaldhallen is deeply involved in, together with many other actors in Sweden and the rest of the world. It started in Venezuela and is now a worldwide movement to reach children who would not otherwise come in contact with music. It is based on the idea of music as a medium for social and cultural development among young people.

"It's about learning focus and discipline. These are not inborn; you have to work at them."

The children soon discover that this is fun, because focus gives results – they quite simply learn how to be good at something.

"But I am worried that schools aren't taking note of research. We know today what benefits music can bring. You learn mathematics and everything else better with music.

By learning music you learn to approach problems from different directions, which is invaluable for learning as a whole." And this is also something that Helena Wessman finds useful as a manager. "

People go on courses to learn creative approaches to problem-solving, which is exactly what music training is all about. If you can't do it one way, try another, break the phrase down, look at the problem from another angle. As a musician I have to solve problems, that's simply how it is", she says, explaining that she has recently taken up playing again. Not the trombone this time, but the accordion, and she has noticed how new paths have been created in her brain and how her coordination and memory have improved.

It worries her that so many young people don't have access to the tools that playing a musical instrument can provide. Not least the ability to listen. And here of course Berwaldhallen, and other cultural institutions, can play an important role.

"Children must learn to go to the theatre, to sit in

a concert hall, to listen to someone reading aloud. The child's own creativity is enormously important. But the ability to listen, that is fundamental, being able to sit still and take in information without 'multitasking'.

If we are to arrive at the solutions to the world's problems, we must be able to concentrate."

Now Helena Wessman has really come to grips with her role and is examining the expression 'high culture'.

"Although it's practically a dirty word", she says with a laugh, adding that she has not completely formulated her thoughts on the subject, but that she is beginning to talk about the issue anyway.

She takes the symphony as an example; this enormously complicated construction, like a cathedral building. We must nurture the abilities – artistic, intellectual, physical – used by humans in building cathedrals, she feels, as they are required to develop our knowledge and carry our civilisation forwards.

"It is important to increase understanding of the complexity of music and of the expertise required to perform it and convey its message."

But the question is whether it is acceptable to talk about difficult music, as much an inellectual experience as an emotional one, in the same way that we do with literature.

"We must challenge the culture of cosiness relating to music. There's nothing wrong with enjoying and relaxing to music, but that isn't its only role. It should also challenge, be prickly, messy, painful, help us to work through the difficul things in life.

There are many challenges for a concert hall with classical and contemporary music as its main theme. We often talk about greying audiences. But, Helena Wessman observes, audiences are constantly topped up by new grey-haired people. She doesn't like the complaints about older audiences.

"Often it's not until a little later in life that people have the time and money to go to the theatre and to concerts. This is an audience that remains with us for a very long time, so obviously they are getting older."

But Berwaldhallen also needs to attract younger visitors, and Helena Wessman has great hopes of younger audiences with an interest in the arts. She says that the potential is there, and it is all about trying out new concert forms of concerts and programming and creating new encounters with the ensembles.

"They must feel that this is a place they can come to – it's a concert hall for the curious. We must lower the threshold to the classical music scene so that people are not afraid to come here. If they come once, they will come again."

Jenny Leonardz

by blending subtle with grandiose, complicated with simply beautiful, we can create images and put into words or music things that we cannot actually see or hear. And it is then that we obtain a greater under-standing of the wider context and that we develop as people.

Since the autumn of 2014, Daniel Harding and the Swedish Radio Symphony Orchestra have invited leading artists, philosophers, authors and other thinkers to Berwaldhallen to share a unique experi-ence with music as a unifying force.

The connections are always natural, even if they are not necessarily obvious at first glance. There are many similarities between great thoughts and great music. Interplay speakers work within a number of different fields, but they have one thing in common: they are all radical innovators and their thinking

stretches far beyond what is generally regarded as accepted knowledge.

It's well known that all great decisions start with an idea. Often a visionary, apparently impossible idea. Something beyond the commonplace. This is just such a vision.

"We want Berwaldhallen to be a place where audiences can obtain intellectual stimulation in every possible way. And we want the Swedish Radio Symphony Orchestra and the Swedish Radio Choir to be at the centre of these activities", says the orchestra's music director, Daniel Harding.

Interplay will be offering around eight events during the forthcoming season and the same number of concerts, some interlinked and some independent. Entrance is free to our Interplay events, which are held in connection with the concert.

The interplay between music, art and scienceMusic is one of humanity's most fascinating and complex inventions. It is an important and essential aspect of the lives of many people which provides both energy and intellectual stimulation, just like art, philosophy and science. The disciplines overlap each other in many ways and it is in the interface between them that we find the unexpected and surprising. We call this Interplay.

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berwaldhallen was inaugurated in the autumn of 1979and is the concert hall for both Swedish Radio andthe whole of Sweden. Above all, Berwaldhallen is thehome of two world-class ensembles: The SwedishRadio Choir and the Swedish Radio SymphonyOrchestra. As a member of the audience you meetthem together with music directors Daniel Harding(the Swedish Radio Symphony Orchestra) and PeterDijkstra (the Swedish Radio Choir), and also withother well-known guests. The majority of concertsinclude music with soloists from across the world. All of the music created here can be experienced bothdirectly and via our radio broad-casts. Thanks to theSwedish Radio Choir and the Swedish Radio Symphony Orchestra, the Swedish Radio can offer a high-quality range of music to listeners troughout the country;

concerts and unique music experiences which would otherwise be difficult o access.

At the heart of Berwaldhallen's activities is contemporary Western art music performed by the Swedish Radio Choir and the Swedish Radio Symphony Orchestra. Our ensembles maintain extremely high standards which attract both the national and international music scene. Berwaldhallen also offers concerts for all ages from the Swedish Radio's wide range of music, performed by other prominent artists.

The Berwaldhallen ensembles preserves and develop music. In our programming we strive to set the music in new contexts. On some evenings it is not merely Swedes who listen to our concerts, but large parts of Europe through the European Broadcasting Union (EBU).

Berwaldhallen, the Swedish Radio Choir and the Swedish Radio Symphony Orchestra

The Swedish Radio Symphony Orchestra Photograph: Mattias Ahlm/Sveriges Radio AB

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The Swedish Radio Choir Photograph: Kristian Pohl

the swedish radio choir is a unique human instrument for music. But how can you actually describe it? Most people know that a mixed voices choir consists of four voices; soprano, alto, tenor and bass. But at the same time that the choir is an ensemble, a collective, it is also a group of individuals with different perceptions of music, personalities and backgrounds. Since 2007 Dutch conductor Peter Dijkstra has led the choir and he is happy to talk about how the increasingly close relationship has positively affected the choir.

"Just like in other relationships between people, it's all about giving each other security and showing mutual respect, but also about making sure that something is happening. Without surprises it stagnates and the relationship turns into a routine", says Peter Dijkstra, moving back from the table slightly to make room for his long legs.

It sounds very simple when he says it, but at the same time it is not so easy to achieve in practice. However, no one can doubt the fact that Peter Dijkstra has succeeded with the Swedish Radio Choir. Their journey together began in 2003 when he won the Eric Ericson Award and conducted the choir in the final.

"It was a brief encounter, but for me it was a fantastic experience. I was then invited to come back, first as guest conductor and then shortly afterwards as music director. "Since then we have got to know each other very well and have come to a point where I know exactly what I can expect and what I can demand of them. And they know exactly what they get with me too", says Peter Dijkstra.

If you were to draw a diagram of the Swedish Radio Choir, it would be a complicated sketch with a host of different connections between the entire ensemble, the various people involved, the vocal parts and Peter Dijkstra. Individuals who act together and give their

utmost for a common goal – creating choral music at the highest international level.

"It is important to point out that the music is always at the heart of everything we do! That's what we must attain together in some way. As the conduc-tor I am the advocate of the music, and even if there are personal interests – my own, perhaps, or one of the choir member's – they must be subordinate to the task of leading the choir in search of a certain core, which can be found in the music."

Music is the language of feelings. But working with music is not the same thing as simply going by your feelings. Behind every successful concert with the Swedish Radio Choir is a great deal of painstaking work on each phrase and each subtle shift in the choral sound. When I speak to some of the choristers, they all say how extremely well prepared Dijkstra always is for each rehearsal. He himself feels that this is essential.

"When you start a project, you must know what you want from the music before the start of the very first rehearsal. And how to achieve it! We know each other so well now that as a conductor I can use all of

The Swedish Radio Choir is one of the world's foremost choirs. And it just gets better and better. The man behind its major successes is Peter Dijkstra, who has been the choir's music director for the last eight years. I met him over coffee in Stockholm on a beautiful spring day to talk about his close relationship with the choir and the musical magic that has arisen in their close and long-standing collaboration.

Striving for excellence– The Swedish Radio Choir and Peter Dijkstra

• The Swedish Radio Choir was formed in 1925

• The Swedish Radio Choir is one of the world's foremost a cappella ensembles

• Eric Ericson developed the choir from 1952

• Since the autumn of 2007, Peter Dijkstra has been the music director of the Swedish Radio Choir

• The Swedish Radio Choir consists of 32 professional singers

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the choir's strong sides to reach the musical goals effectively. But there must be a plan for that, if you want to be taken seriously and listened to. And this applies in particular to advanced repertoire", he points out.

I see confirmation of this at a rehearsal in Studio 2 at the Radio Centre. The atmosphere is relaxed but concentrated. Dijkstra starts by going through the pronunciation in a few places in the English text of Arvo Pärt's I Am the True Vine. The dynamics are important, as are the relationship between words and tones. It takes a few repetitions to get one crescendo completely correct. Between attempts there are also questions from different choir members about how they should handle certain passages. They alternate between speaking English and Swedish.

The atmosphere throughout the entire rehearsal is charac-terised by a lack of prestige, which should not be confused with a low level of ambition – on the contrary, it is more a common desire to achieve the best possible result on the basis of mutual confidence. And laughter is never very far away. When the choir members move to their respective places, they are also divided into the different voices. The sopranos at front left. Behind them the basses. On the other side the altos and tenors. I wonder if it is possible to distinguish any specific characteristics in the different voices. Peter Dijkstra expresses himself carefully.

"I wouldn't like to generalise too much, but there are some common features in the different vocal parts. And that's something which it is important to bear in mind. Sometimes one voice needs to be brought out and another held back. It's all about achieving a good musical result and the whole idea is based on the fact that all four pillars, the different voices in the choir, work well together."

In order to understand how members themselves feel about this, I spoke to some of the choristers. "What makes the sopranos unique?", I bluntly asked Jenny Ohlson Akre.

"It actually changes over time because singers sometimes leave and new ones join, but just now we work together in a very satisfying way. We are all different personalities with our individual singing styles, but we are also a good team that supports each other. Many of the sopranos are also soloists,

and it isn't unusual for one or more of these to stick out, but in the choir it is collaboration that's the key", she says.

As a member of the choir it is very important to find the balance between taking the initiative and blending into an overall whole. It means being able to communicate the musical and also the textual message to the audience to give them a complete experience, without losing energy or directness of approach in the performance. The Swedish Radio Choir consists of a collection of unique individuals with a highly developed ability to make their voices blend into the overall choral sound, agrees Joakim Schuster, one of the basses.

"We take it in turns to push and pull. I think that the basses largely see themselves as the anchor of the choir. There are also humorists among the basses and some who create security", he says.

During the rehearsal, the score for Arvo Pärt's Te Deum is handed out. It is the choir's first encounter with this work and the choir members are re-organised into a double choir. Together with half of her colleagues among the altos, Tove Nilsson changes place and moves to the other side of the room.

Afterwards I meet her and ask what is special about the altos.

"We often sing the lower part and are at the centre or lower down in the choral sound. This means that we are perhaps quite good at listening to the others because their voices are both above and below ours. And I love to sing alto!", says Tove Nilsson.

This rehearsal involves Arvo Pärt's music. The repertoire is also the key to a great deal, explains Peter Dijkstra, who thinks it is important to sing music with flowing vocal lines that he feels are good both for the voices and for the overall sound.

"Regardless of whether it is Romantic music or music by Renaissance composers, we always come back regularly to this type of repertoire. We have also established a very solid and stable foundation which means that we have reached a point where we can tackle a more difficult and even more advanced repertoire."

Tenor Gunnar Sundberg has has followed Peter Dijkstra’s progress from the start and sang at the concert where the conductor and choir met at the very first time. Over the years the collaboration has

« Without sur-prises, everything stagnates and the relationship becomes merely routine. »Peter Dijkstra

developed extremely well, he says. Naturally there have been problems at times, but this is a creative process and singing is special, because the members of the choir use their own bodies as instruments, which makes it a very personal process. And Peter Dijkstra agrees.

"It's not always easy. Sometimes difficult situations arise, but friction also generates warmth! And from that comes energy."

And Gunnar Sundberg agrees that there is a great deal of energy among the tenors.

"Yes, if one some people get carried away and sings too loudly it's usually the tenors. Sometimes we have to try to restrain ourselves a little."

Peter Dijkstra talks with great warmth and sincerity about the choir and how they have developed together over the years.

He says that in a choir harmony is perhaps particularly important, by which he means harmony within the ensemble rather than in the music.

"You can hear whether a choir is having fun or not. The fact that people are enjoying themselves is extremely important to the musical result."

Peter Dijkstra continues by saying that all the singers are of an extremely high level. They are all in some way soloists but with the unique ability to also be team players and take responsibility for the whole

result, just as the choristers insightfully describe themselves. But this quality level doesn't mean that they can rest on their laurels.

" Feeling that we have achieved everything is dangerous. We must always continue yo develop! The Swedish Radio Choir must be a choir that leads the way. You can compare it with mountain climbing. We belong to the group that leaves base camp and goes before everyone else, leaving directions for the others to follow. This ambition doesn't merely include performing music at the highest international level, but also making sure that we can première more new works. The choir is always on the way to a higher goal – 'The sky is the limit!'", concludes Peter Dijkstra with emphasis and leaves the café with a broad smile.

Göran Persson

Peter Dijkstra's contract as music director of the Swedish Radio Choir has recently been extended to 2018.

Peter Dijkstra Photograph: Astrid Ackermann

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"it's just sheer joy to play with this orchestra", says Tomo Keller, the orchestra's concertmaster. "It's utterly wonder-ful!" The Austrian violinist, like many of his colleagues, has plenty of previous experience to compare with: he has played with around 20 top orchestras across the world, become disillusioned – and regained his dreams.

"The positive spirit, the motivation to become better these are very rare in large symphony orchestras. I have mostly felt something similar in smaller orchestras." He says that the Swedish Radio Symphony Orchestra produces large format chamber music – which doesn't mean that they play feebly or without power, but rather through inspired, responsive musicianship.

Tomo Keller is not alone in his comments. The triumphal tours of recent years have built up the

Sheer joyWhat is it that makes the Swedish Radio Symphony Orchestra sound so good? The answer is of course much more complex than the fact that this is a group of world-class musicians. Because it is their sheer joy in playing, their thirst for deeper awareness and a joint striving for responsiveness in their music-making that makes critics and audiences the world over shower praise on their unique, chamber music-like sound.

orchestra's self-confidence and also welded the ensemble together into a single unit. The critics have commented upon a sound which is neither German, English nor Russian, but instead Nordic, tinged with the flexibility and delicacy of chamber music but with enormous expansive power.

"They have developed an interplay which is breath- taking", says general manager Helena Wessman. "Seamless playing, smooth and elastic – without edges", she continues "Abroad, the Swedish Radio Symphony Orchestra is considered to be one of Europe's foremost orchestras. That's big!"

The explanation behind the orchestra's respon-siveness is complex. It's partly the result of intensive work within the sections and events such as conductorless concerts which are instead led by the leader of the orchestra or a sec-tion leader. That kind of exercise develops listening ability in an orchestra. But it's also about continuity in the collaboration with music director Daniel Harding, who was able to work with the orchestra during 24 weeks of the 2014/2015 season thanks to Interplay. Soon Harding will be celebrating his tenth anniversary as music director, and neither party sees any reason to change the conditions of this successful musical relationship. This year several recordings for the Harmonia Mundi label also give the orchestra the opportunity to shine in its own right – not merely as a 'backing band' to world-famous soloists.

With Harding at the helm a new generation of musicians has joined the orchestra. Their major international experience and knowledge of repertoire, combined with their own experience of different conductors and soloists, make it possible for the orchestra to embark on new projects that really get off the ground, and to widen their perspective.

"They are genuinely committed, passionate and serious about their efforts", continues Wessman; "and also a truly open orchestra".

Interplay in particular has had unexpected results for the development of the orchestra. To begin with, it perhaps wasn't entirely clear how the intellectual, interdisciplinary event would be able to heighten the concert experience.

"We thought 'What's this got to do with us?", explains Tomo Keller. "But during the season increasing numbers of musicians came to listen to the discussions and noted how reflections on the music also had an impact on our playing. Interplay has reinforced the responsiveness within the group; a responsiveness

which is both intuitive and intellectual."Audiences too have been shaken up by Interplay,

expectations have been turned upside-down – which programme manager Hanns Rodell has observed. If one or two listeners found themselves on unfamiliar ground, so be it, but there is something positive about not being predictable.

"It feels like a modern way of approaching the concert form", says Rodell.

Helena Wessman is looking forward to extending the successful Interplay project during the first season that is completely 'hers', in 2015/2016.

"We want to stand up for complexity, give audiences an opportunity to develop their intellectual receptiveness."

She is keen to point out that the Interplay project was essentially inspired by the vision of public service broadcasting; by the prospect of being able to offer radio listeners the very finest, both artistically and intellectually, and continuing to challenge the audience, regardless of whether they are sitting in the concert hall or listening to a radio broadcast.

What are the season's highlights? Neither Helena Wessman or Tomo Keller hesitate for a second before identifying the tours: in the autumn a tour with the first Interplay programme, which after the concert at Berwaldhallen will be travelling to Berlin. And in spring a tour of Spain and Italy with pianist Maria João Pires and violinist Veronika Eberle. But this will also be a season offering many exciting new works by Swedish composers. Prospects that will continue to broaden musical perspectives and keep the orchestra happy in their work.

Sofia Nyblom

• The Swedish Radio Symphony Orchestra was formed in 1965 through the merger of the Radio Orchestra and the Light Orchestra

• The Swedish Radio Symphony Orchestra consists of around 100 top-class musicians

• Since 2007, Daniel Harding has been the music director of the Swedish Radio Symphony Orchestra.

• Berwaldhallen is the home of the Swedish Radio Symphony Orchestra

• Today the Swedish Radio Symphony Orchestra ranks among the best orchestras in Europe

The Swedish Radio Symphony Orchestra and Daniel Harding Photograph: Mattias Ahlm/Sveriges Radio AB

The Swedish Radio Symphony Orchestra and Daniel Harding Photograph: Julian Hargreaves

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daniel harding greets me warmly, sits down, runs a hand through his brown hair, straightens his spectacles and leans back in a chair in the conference room of his favourite hotel in Stockholm. There is very little to show that the top British conductor on the other side of the table who has just been served a cup of afternoon tea from a silver teapot will turn 40 only a few months after our meeting. Trainers, jeans and a simple hoodie are perhaps not the obvious uniform for a maestro with the world as his playground and some of the world's best musicians as his workmates. The Vienna

Philharmonic one week, the London Symphony Orchestra the next and the Swedish Radio Symphony Orchestra the week after.

It's all about communication. About the ability to convey music, about capturing the essence, about getting 100 professional musicians to understand and share a vision. Daniel Harding does it better than most people. Under his leadership the Swedish Radio Symphony Orchestra has taken several steps forward. Now the important task is to help other people discover what he has known himself for a long time –

The Music Director with the world as his stageFor eight years Daniel Harding has worked as music director of the Swedish Radio Symphony Orchestra. Now the British star conductor wants the rest of the world to discover how good the orchestra really is.

Daniel Harding Photograph: Julian Hargreaves

how good the Swedish Radio Symphony Orchestra really is. And how the orchestra has developed in recent years

Daniel Harding has just spent yet another afternoon with the orchestra in Berwaldhallen. Together they have tussled with Britten's War Requiem. In 24 hours they will be performing Benjamin Britten's pacifist statement which was first presented in Coventry Cathedral in the early 1960s. During that performance Daniel Harding's mother was in the audience, and it was one of her most memorable musical experiences.

Daniel Harding talks about music which investi-gates history, how a composer is transformed into a historian and about the responsibility that entails. He observes that the stories that a composer – or even an author – chooses to describe constitute a small section of a reality which continues to be interpreted long afterwards.

"It's interesting to think about how these stories colour our impression of the past. Is it even possible to be objective as a historian? It certainly isn't possible to create an objective work of art. Even though some forms of art are only intended only to provide enjoyment, I would say that political ideas haveprobably always been part of art.

"Only a few details remain to sort out before the Swedish Radio Symphony Orchestra's music director for the last eight years is satisfied with their interpre-tation of Britten. This is how it tends to be nowadays during concert weeks in Stockholm. The process of getting the musical construction to hold together is a little quicker with the Swedish Radio Symphony Orchestra than with other orchestras. Their prolonged relationship means that communication is both straightforward and simple.

"I'm at home here, the musicians know me and know that I am essentially a reasonable chap. I don't need to worry about not being invited back; they have seen both my good and my bad sides. With many other orchestras I have to plan when to plant an idea so that I can achieve a particular result later. Here I can just say 'I don't like that'. Everything has its advantages and disadvantages, but it's not a bad thing to truly know the people that you're working with."

Daniel Harding leans back in his chair and talks about his years together with the Swedish Radio Symphony Orchestra and a relationship which has

developed gradually. He points to the desire to take greater risks, the ability to share experiences and help colleagues forward, which he feels has increased.

He remembers their first period together; until then he had primarily worked with chamber orchestras in various places. He observes that there is always some risk involved in expanding a collaboration; you can't see whether the relationship will in fact bear fruit until a certain amount of time has passed.

So why has this been such successful union? Daniel Harding says that it's partly luck. The personal chemistry between him and the orchestra worked, and the will to gradually develop the relationship has always

been there."We are currently in a very

important position; in order for the orchestra to continue to develop we need to encounter new audiences and appear on other stages. It is essential to face the type of challenges that new surroundings entail. We were in London a while ago, and the response from the audience was unprecedented. The orchestra is always better when it returns from tours."

Daniel Harding dwells on this topic for a little while. On the

importance of being able to take the next step, leaving behind the safe and habitual and exposing oneself to greater pressure and encountering new audiences and new surroundings. In risk-taking also lies the potential to develop.

"A conductor's challenge is to be able to balance the group's strong personalities; there are always strong personalities in a symphony orchestra. When I heard the Swedish Radio Symphony Orchestra for the first time, it was clear that there was something holding them back. It was as if there were invisible chains that meant they didn't dare to let go and use their entire register."

And Daniel Harding talks about the attitudes that usually meet Swedish orchestras overseas, about what he often hears when he talks about Swedish orchestras.

"There is a preconceived image outside Sweden that Swedish symphony orchestras sound correct but a little too... civilised. So we are forced to go quite a long way in the other direction because many people have a tendency to hear exactly what they expect. For me, it is important to challenge these perceptions."

Daniel Harding's CV is impressive, to say the least.

"It's important to leave your comfort zone and encounter a new audience."Daniel Harding

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He was originally a trumpet player. As a 13-year-old, he played in the National Youth Orchestra of Great Britain. He soon came in contact with the conductor, Simon Rattle, and became his assistant at the age of just 16. After his studies at Cambridge he had the opportunity to work closely with Claudio Abbado, who was then music director of the Berlin Philharmonic. Abbado offered the young conductor a position as his assistant; Harding moved to Berlin and learned an enormous amount in a short time, and just a few years later the young Englishman conducted an orchestra at Covent Garden. Harding opened the 2005 La Scala season a few months before he turned 30. It was the first time in history that a British conductor had been entrusted with this prestigious task. After that his career has simply continued upwards.

Is there a risk in all this? Has he achieved everything far too early? Is he attracted by the thought of still being a conductor even in 40 years time? Daniel Harding nods enthusiastically.

"If someone said to me that I will still be conducting in 40 years time, I would be a happy man. It wouldn't matter where I was working or who with, just the knowledge that I would still be working with music would be enough. I count myself as extremely fortunate that every week I get to work at what I like best of all. My job is all about problem solving. If something doesn't sound right, I have to find a way to make it sound better. You also get an immediate confirmation about whether what you thought of actually works. I can have 100 wow experiences in a day. The direct feedback from the orchestra and the audience is amazingly healthy."

At the same time he points out that he is attracted by the fact that he hasn't a clue about the future – perhaps a slightly modified version of the truth, because if there's one thing that world-class conduc-tors do know it's how their next few years will be organised. His calendar is full a long way into the future.

"For me, life would be unbearable without uncer-tainty. Something I learned as I was developing – I don't want to use the word career – is that you have no idea what's going to happen next. I don't know what I'll be doing in five years time; however, I do know that we spend a little too much time trying to be certain of how things will be in the future."

Daniel Harding pauses for a moment. He says that he isn't sure that he has really achieved that much so far. He says that he is still only at the start of his professional course.

"If you want to have a long career in this profes-sion, it's important to have a relaxed attitude to the criticism you will receive. You must also be secure in

the knowledge that there are many things you aren't good at. It's like having a ticket to Willy Wonka's chocolate factory; it's only when you know what you need to develop that you can improve."

There was a period when things were tough for Daniel Harding. The years between 22 and 26 were difficult, and Harding wasn't particularly happy despite his rapid success. He turned to his mentor, Simon Rattle, who confirmed that the profession of conductor also has its difficult, painful aspects. The pressure, the constant wandering lifestyle, continously being judged... Rattle pointed out that what was awaiting Daniel Harding was not necessarily a happy life.

"I learned a great deal from that. Simon told me how good it was that I was going through that phase, that sooner or later I would find that the experience it gave me would be important for the rest of my life. Going through difficult periods is mostly about realising that this is serious. I love this life and at the same time I'm completely convinced that this feeling would stop immediately if I didn't continue to try to improve. Every day offers a new opportunity to explore something new and see if it works."

And your relationship to Stockholm? What is that like after so many years as music director? Not surprisingly, Daniel Harding says that he is happy with everything except for the 'dreadful weather'.

"Apart from that, Stockholm is a great city, although I must admit that I haven't explored it very thoroughly. I go to the same restaurants, wander through the same streets. There are some parts of the city that I know better than my home town. I feel happy here."

Daniel Harding has a contract with the Swedish Radio Symphony Orchestra until 2018. At the same time he says that he has 'put a little pressure' on the management to start thinking about the future. Not because he's in a hurry to leave, he points out; he isn't. But the process of finding a new music director is a long one.

"And I absolutely couldn't leave without knowing that the orchestra was in good hands."

He smiles and clasps his hands together, then leaps up, says goodbye and wanders off into the Stockholm evening. A few days later, the interpretation of War Requiem gets excellent reviews. By this time, Daniel Harding has already left the country for a new orchestra week.

Gabriel Byström

Daniel Harding's contract as music director for the Swedish Radio Symphony Orchestra is ongoing and he has now booked concerts with the orchestra until 2020.

The Swedish Radio Symphony Orchestra Photograph: Julian Hargreaves

1918

VIOLIN I

Malin Broman ConcertmasterTomo Keller Concertmaster Julia Kretz-Larsson Associate ConcertmasterUlrika Jansson 2nd ConcertmasterChristian Bergqvist Torbjörn Bernhardsson Gunnar Eklund Ulf Forsberg Hanna Göran Åsa Hallerbäck Thedéen Per Hammarström Iskandar Komilov Olle Markström Svein Martinsen Veronika Novotna Stanka Simeonova Lena Sintring Per SporrongVacancy

VIOLIN II

Per Öman*Malin William-Olsson**Thomas Andersson Mira Fridholm Frida Hallén Blixt

Jan Isaksson Eva Jonsson Renate KlavinaRoland Kress Ann-Marie Lysell Geneviève Martineau Saara Nisonen Öman Anders Nyman Martin Stensson Bo Söderström Veneta Zaharieva Blendulf

VIOLA

Eriikka Nylund* Vacancy*Riikka Repo** Elisabeth Arnberg Tony Bauer Diana Crafoord Åsa KarlssonIngegerd Kierkegaard Kristina LignellLinnéa Nyman Junping Qian Ann Christin Ward Hans Åkeson

CELLO

Jan-Erik Gustafsson* Ola Karlsson*Ulrika Edström**

Staffan Bergström Jana Boutani Magnus Lanning Astrid Lindell Peter Molander Helena Nilsson Johanna SjunnessonErik Williams

DOUBLE BASS

Rick Stotijn*Ingalill Hillerud**Jan Dahlkvist Walter McTigert Emma Nyberg Robert Röjder Carina Sporrong Vacancy

FLUTE

Anders Jonhäll*Vacancy* Julia Crowell Linda Taube, also piccola

OBOE

Emmanuel Laville* Bengt Rosengren*Sofi Berner, also cor anglais Ulf Bjurenhed

CLARINET

Niklas Andersson*Andreas Sundén*Dag Henriksson, also E-flat clarinetMats Wallin, also bass clarinet

BASSOON

Henrik Blixt*Fredrik Ekdahl*Katarina Agnas, also contrabassoon Maj Widding

HORN

Hans Larsson*Chris Parkes* Bengt Ny Rolf Nyquist Juan Pavia FontSusan Sabin

TRUMPET

Tarjei Hannevold* Vacancy*Torben Rehnberg Mats-Olov Svantesson

TROMBONE

Håkan Björkman* Michael Oskarsson*Göran Brink

BASS TROMBONE

John Lingesjö

TUBA

Lennart Nord*

TIMPANI

Tomas Nilsson*Jan Huss** also percussion

PERCUSSION

Karl Thorsson*Mats Nilsson**

HARP

Lisa Viguier Vallgårda*

* = Principal** = Co-Principal

THE SWEDISH RADIO SYMPHONY ORCHESTRA

SOPRANO

Marie AlexisJessica BäcklundLisa CarliothJennie ErikssonSofia NiklassonJenny Ohlson AkreMarika ScheeleUlla Sjöblom

ALTO

Helena BjarnleAnnika HudakChristiane HöjlundInger Kindlund StarkUlrika Kyhle HäggMaria LundellTove NilssonAnna Zander Sand

TENOR

Per Björsund Mats CarlssonNiklas EngquistLove EnströmThomas KöllFredrik MattssonGunnar Sundberg Magnus Wennerberg

BASS

Staffan AlvetegLars Johansson BrissmanMathias BrorsonRickard CollinBengt EklundStefan NymarkJohan PejlerJoakim Schuster

THE SWEDISH RADIO CHOIR

THE ENSEMBLES 2015/2016

CONCERT HALL MANAGEMENT

Helena Wessman General Manager*

ADMINISTRATION AND FINANCE

Katarina Netsman Administrative Manager* Maria Karakitsos Economist

CHOIR AND ORCHESTRA

Birgit Lundmark Choir and Orchestra Manager*Dace Vinklere Production and Stage manager The Swedish Radio Symphony OrchestraFrans Wallenberg Caretaker, BerwaldhallenPernilla Wilhelmsdotter Production and Stage Manager The Swedish Radio Choir

MARKETING AND SALES

Karin Adolfsson Marketing and Sales Manager*Katarina Huss SalesKristina Högberg Sales Maryam Madaresi Sales Manager/ Key Account ManagerDouglas Netzel SalesPeter Smith Press Officer Ulrica Stjernqvist Web EditorUlrika Öhrner Marketing Coordinator

MUSIC SCORE LIBRARY

Margareta Holdar Davidsson Music and Orchestral LibrarianPär Ohlsson Orchestral Librarian Fredrik Råström Orchestral LibrarianEvabritt Selén Music Librarian

PROGRAMME AND PLANNING

Gerd Björnung Programme and Planning Manager Events* Arne Lundmark Programme and Planning Manager The Swedish Radio Choir* Hanns Rodell Programme and Planning Manager The Swedish Radio Symphony Orchestra* Carrie Budelman ProducerEva Ericsson Rydberg Production Manager and Rental CoordinatorKajsa Hallhagen Production manager and Project Manager, Baltic Sea FestivalJan B Larsson ProducerKarin Lewinson Planning AssistantPär Ohlsson Production Manager Michael Tydén General Manager Baltic Sea FestivalKristina Westman Production and Tour Manager

TECHNICIANS

Elias Bredefeldt Stage TechnicianJessica Carlsson Stage Manager Mats Ferner Instrument Technician Johan Hertzberg Stage Technician Alexander Högberg Stage TechnicianEdgar Lips Instrument TechnicianRolf Ohlsson Instrument TechnicianJan-Erik Olsson Stage TechnicianKarl Rudqvist Stage TechnicianLia Westerberg Stage Technician

* Management Group

ADMINISTRATIVE STAFF

Berwaldhallen Photograph: Micke Grönberg/Sveriges Radio AB

20 21

DON'T MISS NIKLAS AND RADIOAPAN IN SPACEA few times every year Berwaldhallen fills up with the very youngest audiences. Sometimes the performances are musical, sometimes theatrical. This autumn the children's concerts continue, and this time it's a première for Radioapan! Marit Strindlund conducts the Swedish Radio Symphony Orchestra, and as usual popular children's concert host Niklas Riesbeck will be leading the fun. The first concert will be a musical adventure in space! We take a moonwalk, see the stars twinkle and hear a mysterious signal from outer space... Where is it coming from? Does somebody need help?

Radioapan normally lives in a cosy nest high up in a tree in the Fairytale Forest. There he has a pantry full of audio cans. When Radioapan isn't mixing radio program- mes, he plays the banjo. Why not listen to his own music channel for children?: sverigesradio.se/knattekanalen or on the Radioapan app.

Sunday 7 November 12.00 and 14.00Saturday 6 February 12.00 and 14.00 – new adventure with Niklas and Radioapan

MAMMA MOO AND

CROW'S SONGS"My little crow song" and many others! Sing along with Mamma Moo and Crow – two characters who made their début on children's radio in the 1980s and who have since continued to entertain children of all ages. The characters later appeared in computer games and a number of children's books with much-loved illustrations by Sven Nordqvist.

SING ALONG WITH MAMMA MOO AND CROW'S SONGSSunday 25 October 14.00 and 16.00With the participation of Anders Ågren, Malou Meilink, Anders Wihk, Backa Hans Eriksson and Sollentuna Music Classes.

Children welcome!

© Sven Nordqvist

SCORE – THE WORLD'S BEST GAME MUSIC AT BERWALDHALLENThe game music phenomenon is now well-established in orchestras across the world. The music is lively, exciting and far more than the background soundtrack to explosions. In September the Swedish Radio Symphony Orchestra presents a musical journey through the magical world of the computer game. SCORE – Orchestral Game Music, takes you on a musical voyage of discovery through Super Mario, Halo, the Legend of Zelda, Skyrim, Bloodborne and more. Orvar Säfström will be presenting the concerts.

SCORE – Orchestral Game Music Thursday 24 September, 18.00Friday 25 September, 19.30

CHAMBERUNPLUGGED

CHAMBERUNPLUGGED

CHAMBERUNPLUGGED

CHAMBERUNPLUGGED

Logo 75 pt

Logo 32 pt Logo 16 pt

BOOKLOVERS!

ALL

CALLINGPassionate

about books!

BERWALD BONUSTo celebrate Sveriges Radio's 90th birthday, we are presenting Franz Berwald's music. After six of the season's Wednesday concerts, we present a chamber music bonus with music by Berwald, performed by musicians from our ensembles. Visit berwaldhallen.se for information. P2 will also be broadcasting four documentaries about Franz Berwald's life and music from a radio perspective, starting on Sunday 25 October at 14.00.

LUNCHTIME CONCERTSChamber Unplugged is a series of acoustic concerts in new and exciting constellations. For those of you who enjoy chamber music and have the possibility of coming to Studio 2 at the Radio Centre in Stockholm at lunchtime, Chamber Unplugged is the perfect choice. Take the opportunity to hear the music that Berwaldhallen's own musicians and singers enjoy bringing to life.

CHAMBER UNPLUGGED Radio Centre, Studio 2, 12.00 Friday 23 October Monday 9 November (Studio 3) Monday 30 November Monday 1 February Monday 14 March Friday 8 April Thursday 19 May

Hear contemporary authors present their latest books, together with actors and journalists talking about writing and reading. The evening's encounters include Anna Mannheimer, presenter and journalist, and her husband Peter Apelgren, comiedian and artist – proving that opposites definitely can attract. Calling all booklovers is a collaboration with the publisher Brombergs Bokförlag.

CALLING ALL BOOKLOVERS Sunday 8 November, 15.00 Dorotea Bromberg host

22

Photograph: Dennis Wernersson

PHOTOGRAPH: Bo-Aje Mellin

Sketch

Subject to change.

OPEN HOUSE AT BERWALDHALLENBerwaldhallen's Open House is a recurring and much appreciated event. There is always something for the whole family – you can try out different instruments, go on a voyage of discovery behind the scenes and take part in many more exciting activities. When you need a break, pop in to Café Berwald for refreshments. And of course there's always a concert – this year the Swedish Radio Symphony Orchestra, the Swedish Radio Choir and Stockholm School of the arts provide the soundtrack.

Sunday 13 February 2016 Read more at berwaldhallen.se

EL SISTEMAIn El Sistema Stockholm, children from suburbs such as Husby and Bredäng learn to play and sing classical music in an orchestra and choir. Musicians and singers from the Swedish Radio Symphony Orchestra and the Swedish Radio Choir visit the children in their schools every term, providing adult role models and a link to a new musical world. The children also sometimes visit Berwaldhallen during rehearsals and concerts. Every week the pupils, their teachers, parents and siblings attend El Sistema's family meetings. This social meeting place is important within El Sistema, just as much a foundation as the music. A few times a year children from El Sistema Stockholm assemble at Berwaldhallen for the Side by Side concert to play and sing together with the Swedish Radio Symphony Orchestra and the Swedish Radio Choir.

Monday 9 May 2016, 18.00 Free entry

IN DECEMBER BERWALDHALLEN PRESENTS ST. LUCIA CELEBRATIONS AND CHRISTMAS MUSICST. LUCIA IN BERWALDHALLEN The St. Lucia concerts are among our best- loved traditions – beautiful choral singing combined with singing and music from guest soloists.Nacka Music Classes The music group Frispel Sunday 6 December, 16.00 and 18.00

CHRISTMAS WITH NILS LANDGREN AND FRIENDSTuesday 8 December, 18.00 Wednesday 9 December, 18.00

CHRISTMAS CONCERTSwedish Radio Symphony Orchestra Swedish Radio Choir Marit Strindlund conductorWednesday 16 December, 18.00 Thursday 17 December, 18.00 Friday 18 December, 19.30 Saturday 19 December, 15.00

Dag Hammarskjölds väg 3 berwaldhallen.se

Ticket office opening hours Normal weekdays, Mon–Fri 12–18 and two hours before the concert.

Telephone hours Normal weekdays, Mon–Fri 9–18, Sat 10–15 and two hours before the concert. Telephone: +46 (0) 8 784 18 00

Subject to change.

Email biljettkontoret.berwaldhallen@sverigesradio.se

Fax +46 (0) 8 663 15 14

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