Stenhammar: Symphony No. 2 & Ett drömspel Antwerp Symphony Orchestra & Christian Lindberg

• Wilhelm Stenhammar (1871-1927): Symphony No. 2 in G Minor, Op. 34:
• 1I. Allegro energico12:05
• 2II. Andante09:29
• 3III. Scherzo. Allegro ma non troppo presto08:03
• 4IV. Finale. Sostenuto - Allegro vivace - Tranquillamente - Allegro ma non troppo16:14
• Ett drömspel:
• 5Ett drömspel11:30
• Total Runtime57:21

Info for Stenhammar: Symphony No. 2 & Ett drömspel

Considered to be one of the great Nordic symphonies of its time, Wilhelm Stenhammar's Symphony No. 2 in G minor was a long time in the making. Stenhammar the conductor and pianist was a leading figure in the musical life of Sweden and Scandinavia, but in his role as composer he struggled with self-doubt, feeling that his knowledge of musical theory was insufficient. In 1910 he decided to address this perceived shortcoming, and began an intensive study of counterpoint which included setting himself several thousand assignments over the following decade. At the same time, between 1911 and 1915, Stenhammar composed his G minor symphony, and against this background it is hardly surprising that it displays his preoccupation with counterpoint, its final movement a grandiose double fugue.

If the symphony is one of Stenhammar’s most celebrated works, his music for Strindberg’s A Dream Play is one of the least-known. It was composed for a production of Strindberg’s existential drama in 1916, a year after the completion of the Symphony. Rarely performed after that, the music was arranged into a concert version in 1970 by Hilding Rosenberg. Christian Lindberg and the Antwerp Symphony Orchestra have previously recorded Stenhammar’s Serenade to critical acclaim: the disc was named Disc of the Week on Danish Radio, received a recommendation on German website Klassik-Heute and was selected Recording of the Month on MusicWeb-International.

Antwerp Symphony Orchestra
Christian Lindberg, conductor

The Antwerp Symphony Orchestra
is the symphony orchestra of Flanders and is based in the new Queen Elisabeth Hall in Antwerp. Under the baton of Chief Conductor Elim Chan (from the 2019-2020 season) and Principal Guest Conductor Philippe Herreweghe the orchestra wants to move and inspire a large and diverse audience through top-level concert experiences.

Thanks to its own series of concerts in large venues, the Antwerp Symphony Orchestra occupies a unique position in Flanders. The Antwerp Symphony Orchestra has also been a guest of some major foreign concert halls: the Musikverein and Konzerthaus in Vienna, the Festspielhaus in Salzburg, the Amsterdam Concertgebouw, the Suntory Hall and the Bunka Kaikan Hall in Tokyo, the Philharmonie of Cologne and Munich, the Palace of Art in Budapest and the National Grand Theatre of Beijing. International concert tours through Europe and Asia are a constant item on the yearly calendar.

Alongside its regular concerts, the orchestra attaches great value to developing educational and social projects, offering children, youngsters, and people with different social backgrounds the opportunity to get acquainted with the symphony orchestra from close quarters.

The Antwerp Symphony Orchestra collaborates with major classical music labels and several of the orchestra's CDs received acclaim by the professional press. The orchestra also curates its own label, focusing on the main orchestral repertoire, Belgian composers and contemporary music.

Christian Lindberg
Lindberg’s achievements for the trombone can only be compared with those of Paganini for the violin or Liszt for the piano.

Having premièred over 300 works for the trombone(over 90 major concertos) recorded over 70 solo CDs, having an international solo competition created in his name, been voted brass player of the 20th century side by side with Miles Davis and Louis Armstrong, Christian Lindberg is today nothing less than a living legend.

On top of his unrivalled carrier as a trombonist Lindberg has now also embarked on a highly successful conducting carrier, and the near future include major conducting engagements in Musikverein, Suntory Hall, at Beethovenfest, in Salzburg Festspielhaus, Tonhalle Düsseldorf, Meistersingerhalle Nürnberg, and National Centre for the Performing Arts(The Giant Egg) in Beijing with orchestras such as Nippon Yomiuri Symphony Orchestra, Beijing Symphony Orchestra, Royal Liverpool Philharmonic, Royal Flemish Philharmonic, Royal Stockholm Philharmonic, New Zealand Symphony Orchestra, Düsseldorfer Symphoniker, Irish National Philharmonic and Ulster Orchestra, to name a few.

In 2009 Lindberg signed contract as principal conductor with his third orchestra, The Norwegian Arctic Philharmonic Orchestra(the two previous ones being Nordic Chamber Orchestra 2004-2011 and Swedish Wind Ensemble 2005-2012) . Since then he has prolonged his contract twice and their collaboration runs for the moment up to 2017 including major recording projects on BIS (Tchaikovsky Symphonies no 4-6 among other things), a major tour throughout Japan and performances at Beethovenfest, Musikverein and Salzburg Festspielhaus.

Alongside his activities as principal conductor Lindberg has major conducting collaborations with Norrköping Symphony Orchestra (performing and recording all the symphonies by Allan Pettersson), Royal Flemish Philharmonic(a major project performing and recording music by Stenhammar) The Royal Liverpool Philharmonic (a second major conducting residency in 2016), Nürnberger Symphoniker (different projects including music by Lindberg himself, Allan Pettersson, Grieg, Högberg, Tchaikovsky and Beethoven) The Swedish Chamber Orchestra (music by Lindberg, Schubert, Ginastera, Bizet and Andrea Tarrodi) Ulster Orchestra (music by Lindberg, Dvorak, Nielsen, Grieg and Sibelius), Irish National Orchestra (music by Tchaikovsky, Lindberg, Sibelius, and Sandström) and Taipei Symphony Orchestra (Bernstein, Lindberg, Tchaikovsky and Pettersson.

Lindberg also conducts orchestras such as the Rotterdam Philharmonic Orchestra, Verdi Orchestra Milano, Swedish Radio Orchestra, Gürzenich-Orchester Köln, Liverpool Philharmonic Orchestra , Royal Stockholm Philharmonic Orchestra, Malmö Symphony Orchestra, Deutsche Staatsphilharmonie, Extremadura Orchestra, Umeå Symphony Orchestra, Tiroler Symphonieorchester, Het Noord Nederland Orkest, Het Gelders Orkest, Taipei Symphony Orchestra, Poznan Symphony Orchestra, Danish Radio Orchestra, Jenaer Philharmonie, Oulu Symphony Orchestra, Euscadi Orchestra, Maggio Fiorentino, Haydn Orchestra Bolzano, Northern Sinfonia, Helsinki Philharmonics, Lahti Symphony Orchestra, Cape Philharmonic, Aarhus Symphony Orchestra, Shanghai Opera Orchestra, Nürnberger Symphoniker, Iceland Symphony Orchestra, Württembergische Philharmonie, and Teneriffe Symphony Orchestra to name a few.

A a composer Lindberg has been completely busy with commissions since he wrote his first composition Arabenne for Trombone and Strings in 1997-98 as a pure experiment. Orchestras around the world has been qeueing up, and he has composed over 50 works on commission from, among others, The Chicago Symphony Orchestra, The Rotterdam Philharmonic Orchestra, Hessische Rundfunk, Scottish Chamber Orchestra, Swedish Chamber Orchestra, Verdi Orchestra Milano, Royal Stockholm Philharmonic Orchestra, Trondheim Soloists, Sion Musik Festival, Nordland Musikfestuke, Vertavo Quartet, Vib´bone Duo, Sergio Carolino and the Wild Gang, Arctic Philharmonic Orchestra, Norrköping Symphony Orchestra, Bones Apart, Anders Wall Foundation, Hardanger International Musik Festival and Share Music Sweden.

Future commissions include a trombone concerto for the Taipei Symphony Orchestra, a 30 minute long orchestra piece commissioned by Düsseldorfer Symphoniker, a trumpet concerto commissioned by Swedish Chamber Orchestra and Västerås Sinfonietta and a concerto for Evelyn Glennie, Christian Lindberg and orchestra commissioned by the Cheltenham Festival.

His own philosophy regarding his work as a composer is simple: I do not write in any style whatsoever! I purely listen to what my brain and soul tells me, and what I hear I simply put down on paper. To say anything more about my work would be pretentious nonsense.

Booklet for Stenhammar: Symphony No. 2 & Ett drömspel