Newsletter, November 2014

Hannah Holgersson at the Hillborg Festival at Stockholm Concert Hall

The Swedish soprano Hannah Holgersson is currently featured at the Stockholm Concert Hall with performances during the Composer Festival, which this year is dedicated to Anders Hillborg!

Hannah performs with the Royal Stockholm Philharmonic Orchestra on two occasions during the festival; first at the opening concert on November 13 in which Esa-Pekka Salonen leads the concert, then at the festival's final night on November 20, this time with Sakari Oramo conducting.

Question: Tell us something about the works you are going to perform during the festival:

Answer: At the opening concert I am involved in "Sirens" (2011), in which Anders Hillborg in his composition paints the meeting between Odysseus and the sea's dangerous and seductive sirens. At the festival's final concert, I sing "Oh those eyes", a piece for soprano and strings, where Gunnar Ekelöf’s text goes is strengthened by Hillborg's music!

Q: You have a long experience in interpreting contemporary music and has also worked closely with composers such as Ingvar Lidholm, Kjell Perder, Steve Reich, and Tan Dun. What is distinctive with Anders Hillborg's world of sound?

A: Anders Hillborg's music is magnificent artwork with large brush strokes interspersed with exquisite details. The text is emphasized by the music and he has the ability to draw the listener into his unique sound-world where time stands still.

Q: You move as easily between diverse genres such as Baroque, musical, opera and pop. What do you think is most fun to do, and what is your next dream project?

A: I feel best when I get to use my voice in a flexible way focusing on the contact between music and audience. The opportunity to work closely with contemporary composers, and to have a direct dialogue about how music can be chiseled out the best way is wonderful! A dream project would be to gather a bouquet of romances which are instrumented individually and then to document this on a CD!

Hannah Holgersson has established herself as one of Sweden’s most versatile singers with a repertoire extending from baroque music by way of opera to the most recent avant-garde music. As a soloist she appears regularly with e.g. the Royal Stockholm Philharmonic Orchestra, the Royal Stockholm Opera Orchestra, the International Percussion Ensemble Kroumata and the Eric Ericson Chamber Choir. She has taken part as soloist in several CD recordings and regularly appears on radio and TV. Among her international engagements we find Hannah’s American classical concert debut 2009, taking on the notoriously difficult soprano part in György Ligeti’s Requiem, together with the San Francisco Symphony Orchestra under Sir Michael Tilson Thomas.

For more information about Hannah Holgersson and her upcoming performances please visit her homepage www.hannahholgersson.com

Photo by Thorleif Robertsson

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On November 16 the Stenhammar Quartet will perform Hillborg’s composition for string quartet "Kongsgaard Variations" at the Anders Hillborg Festival at Stockholm Concert Hall.

Wermland Opera’s TRILOGIN combines three independent operas, The Barber in Seville by Gioacchino Rossini, The Marriage of Figaro by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart and Fidelio by Ludwig van Beethoven, to create a continuous story that is told in the course of three evenings. In The Marriage of Figaro Karolina Andersson sings the role of Susanna, and in Fidelio Daniel Frank sings role of Florestan. For information on when each cykle will be played please click HERE.    

Linda Mallik is the director of Rossini's French comedy Le Comte Ory which will have it’s opening night on November 15 at Malmö Opera under the musical leadership of Tobias Ringborg. Linda Mallik made her debut as director at Folkoperan in Stockholm in 2011 with an acclaimed production of Faust.

Jakob Högström will be soloist in the world premiere of the children's opera Hion om natten with Norrköping Symphony Orchestra on 22 November. For further information click HERE

Fredrik Zetterström is back at the Royal Opera in Stockholm, this time in the role of Marquis de la Force in Francis Poulenc's opera Dialogues of the Carmelites. Opening night is on November 22. 

Katarina Thoma is the director of GöteborgsOperan’s new production of Engelbert Humperdinck’s masterpiece Hänsel and Gretel opening on 22 November. The role of the Witch is sung by Susanne Resmark.

We congratulate Joakim Unander to winning 3rd prize in the 2014 HMV-VSL International film scoring competition! The task was to write a five-minute suite inspired by five scenes from the movie The Wolfman.