SWEDISH MIRACLE

ALL ABOUT THE ARTS

 

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The Gothenburg Symphony Orchestra, led by Santtu-Matias Rouvali is Sweden’s national orchestra and the country’s pride and joy.

Its past music directors include Neeme Järvi, Christian Zacaharias, Kent Nagano and Gustavo Dudamel. Rouvali was just appointed its Chief Conductor and given a four-year contract. The future looks bright.

This orchestra is absolutely first rate. I just finished listening to the Gothenburgers in a hair-raising performance of Mussorgsky’s Pictures at an Exhibition followed by Janáček’s Taras Bulba followed by Smetana’s Die Moldau – all three brilliantly played and conducted by the hundred-plus ensemble and its 32-year old Music Director.

The Swedes and its Finish leader deliver a massively plush sound while playing like a well-oiled apparatus. Maestro Rouvali conducts with the cool mental clarity and warm heart that suit the big Romantic works he favors.

And, speaking of favors, do yourself one and listen to this link https://vimeo.com/221784978?from=outro-embed .

If you like what you hear you can sign up through Vimeo or directly with the orchestra by email or on Facebook to receive monthly links to their concerts. or find them on You Tube. You will be glad you did, especially when you realize it’s all free.

Rafael de Acha
http://www.RafaelMusicNotes.com All About the Arts

Published by ALL ABOUT THE ARTS

Rafael de Acha has enjoyed a distinguished career in the arts as a performer, stage director, producer, and educator. He was born and grew up in Cuba. At the age of 17 he moved to the United States to study Drama at the University of Minnesota, and later Languages at L.A. City College, Music at the Juilliard School of Music, at the University of Cincinnati’s College Conservatory of Music, and at the New England Conservatory of Music, from which he received the Master's degree. He has taught courses on the History of Music at the University of Miami’s Frost School of Music and at Florida International University, and contributed writings and reviews to Seen and Heard International (www.seenandheard-international.com ) and to this blog. He co-founded the award-winning New Theatre in Coral Gables, Florida, where he produced and staged twenty seasons of classical and contemporary theater, including fifty world premieres of plays that went on to have international and national productions on and off Broadway, including Ana in the Tropics by Nilo Cruz (Pulitzer Prize for Drama 2002 and Tony Nomination 2003.) In 2006 he was presented with a citation from The Dade County Cultural Affairs Council for “trailblazing contributions to the arts in South Florida.”