Love and death at Berwaldhallen

What would music have sounded like had we not had love and death to be inspired by?

One thing is certain: we would never have got to hear some amazing works. Would Richard Wagner have written his Tristan and Isolde if the young couple had simply been friends?

And Liebeslieder-Walzer for mixed voices and four hands would not have seen the light of day unless Johannes Brahms had been in love with the composer Clara Schumann.

What about Arnold Schönberg? Had he not fallen so deeply in love with his music teacher’s sister, Mathilde Zemlinksy, and had Richard Dehmel not written the poem Verkärte Nacht, with its tolerant message about love before marriage, what would have become of Schönberg’s eponymous work? Most likely nothing.

If we for a moment imagine that we are all immortal, and that Gustav Mahler is still among us, would he have found it meaningful to write the Resurrection Symphony?

No, love and death are omnipresent. No one wants to forego love, even when it is painful, and not many people are likely to want to live forever. Creating art that reaches those who come after us is perhaps the closest we will get to immortality.

The 2024/2025 season at the Swedish Radio concert hall Berwaldhallen includes a wealth of wonderful works, inspired by our two constant companions. View the complete programme and book your tickets here.

Welcome!

A SELECTION OF THIS SEASON’S CONCERTS

DEBUSSYS PELLÉAS ET MÉLISANDE

Music about love and death by Wagner and Debussy, and the world premiere of Jesper Nordin’s Silhouettes and Shadows with the Swedish Radio Symphony Orchestra led by Music Director Daniel Harding.

DANIEL LOZAKOVICH IN MOZART’S VIOLIN CONCERTO NO. 3

The young star violinist Daniel Lozakovich and the Swedish Radio Symphony Orchestra under the baton of Kazuki Yamada. Also, music by Schönberg and Debussy.

THE SWEDISH RADIO CHOIR SINGS BRAHMS

Justin Doyle conducts the Swedish Radio Choir in a concert featuring Johannes Brahms’s love songs Liebeslieder-Walzer for choir and piano four hands as well as traditional songs and Antonín Dvořák’s Slavonic Dance.

SO WE WILL VANISH WITH ANNE SOFIE VON OTTER

Internationally acclaimed mezzo-soprano Anne Sofie von Otter in Mikael Karlsson’s song cycle So We Will Vanish. Jukka-Pekka Saraste leads the Swedish Radio Symphony Orchestra in works by Outi Tarkiainen and Pyotr Tchaikovsky.

DARK PARADISE – A PORTRAIT OF LANA DEL REY

An innovative musical portrait of the American singer and song writer Lana Del Rey with the Swedish Radio Choir, soloists Moto Boy and Jennie Abrahamson under conductor Hans Ek.

DVOŘÁK´S CELLO CONCERTO WITH GAUTIER CAPUCON

Gautier Capuçon in Antonín Dvořák’s much loved cello concerto and the Swedish Radio Symphony Orchestra in Alexander von Zemlinsky’s Die Seejungfrau (The Mermaid) under the baton of Juraj Valčuha.

WAGNER’S TRISTAN AND ISOLDE

Wagner’s legendary love drama with Nina Stemme and Daniel Johansson in the title roles together with the Swedish Radio Symphony Orchestra, the choir Orphei Drängar and Music Director Daniel Harding.

RAVEL´S DAPHNIS ET CHLOÉ

Cristian Măcelaru leads the Swedish Radio Symphony Orchestra in Maurice Ravel’s ballet Daphnis et Chloé, Elsa Barraine’s second symphony, and Rudolf Buchbinder in George Gershwin’s piano concerto in F major.

MAHLER’S RESURRECTION SYMPHONY

Gustav Mahler’s second symphony – “Resurrection” – with the Swedish Radio Symphony Orchestra, Orfeó Català, and soloists Johanna Wallroth and Avery Amereau conducted by Music Director Daniel Harding.

CARMINA BURANA

Carl Orff’s iconic cantata Carmina Burana with the Swedish Radio Symphony Orchestra, the Swedish Radio Choir and soloists Karolina Bengtsson, Tobias Westman, and David Risberg conducted by Yi-Chen Lin.

View all concerts and book your ticket here