Royal  Stockholm Philharmonic Orchestra   / Bancroft / Soltani - NOSPR

If there is one musical ensemble that the vast majority of Nobel Prize laureates of the past hundred years have heard perform live, it is surely the Royal Stockholm Philharmonic Orchestra. For the Swedish ensemble, which celebrates its 125th anniversary in 2027, this will be its first visit to Katowice. The works featured on the programme are united by one common thread: they all belong to their composers' late style. The three pieces present mature composers, allowing themselves moments of introspection while exercising masterly control over a carefully chosen palette of compositional means.

In Finnish mythology and in the national epic, the Kalevala, Tapiola is the realm of the mighty forest spirit Tapio. For Sibelius, the symbolism and atmosphere of the epic were an inexhaustible source of inspiration. Permeated by an aura of mystery, Tapiola was the last major work the composer completed.

Although Schumann's Cello Concerto in A minor was composed in little more than a dozen days, the composer never had the opportunity to hear it performed during his lifetime. The score was initially met with a cool reception, probably because of its unusual structure: it is less a vehicle for virtuoso display than an introspective monologue for the cello.

By contrast, Rachmaninoff’s Symphonic Dances present an entirely different picture of the late years of a great composer’s life. It is the only orchestral score he completed entirely after settling in the United States. The work is marked by colourful, modern orchestration and a vigorous narrative. Yet it is also woven through with numerous self-quotations, reflections and musical memories of the Orthodox rites that the composer had carried with him from his youth.

Szymon Maliszewski

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