On Saturday June 13 the Swedish Radio Symphony Orchestra and Music Director Daniel Harding are joined by an elite cast of Swedish opera stars, including Peter Mattei and Malin Byström, for a unique, semi-staged performance of Mozart's opera Don Giovanni at Berwaldhallen. Daniel Harding is finally reunited with the orchestra for his first concerts after ten weeks of quarantine just in time for the culmination of the orchestra’s season.
The semi-staged Don Giovanni is directed by Andrew Staples, who also sings the role of Don Ottavio, with scenography by Bengt Gomér and Helle Carlsson. The performance will be broadcast live for free on Berwaldhallen Play. Find out more about Don Giovanni through the link to the Berwaldhallen website below. The performance is also available to view on Medici.tv until June 13, please see the link below.
"Staffan Becker, Berwaldhallen General Manager, commented: At a time when we need music more than ever, I am proud of what we have achieved in Berwaldhallen this Spring. The orchestra, choir and whole team adapted quickly to the situation and continued to bring live concerts to our audiences. To close our season with Don Giovanni, at a time when too many concert halls and opera houses remain dark, is a unique and extraordinary moment."
The Metropolitan Opera presents an At-Home Gala live streamed with more than 40 of their leading artists participating from their homes all around the world. The Gala and live stream takes place on Saturday April 25 at 1 p.m. EDT and will be available from the Met's website.
The Gala will be hosted by General Manager Peter Gelb and Music Director Yannick Nézet-Séguin from their homes in New York City and Montreal. Mr. Nézet-Séguin will also participate in the gala as a pianist, and as conductor in pre-recorded performances by the Met orchestra and chorus.
Star baritone Peter Mattei, who appeared in the title role in Alban Berg's Wozzeck at the Met this winter will participate in the Gala from Sweden.
In the autumn of 2018 Peter Mattei and pianist Lars David Nilsson went on a Nordic tour, performing Schubert's Winterreise. The tour led to a recording on Swedish record label BIS released in 2019, as well as a tv version, recorded for the Swedish Television SVT. The recording was made at the Ulriksdal Castle Theatre and was broadcasted on the Swedish Television in 2019.
The recording has now been made available again through the Swedish Television streaming service SVT Play.
Peter Mattei has been chosen as the 2020 Vocalist of the Year by Musical America International Directory of the Performing Arts. The awards will be presented in December at the annual awards ceremony in Carnegie Hall, New York.
"The lyric beauty of his voice is just the beginning: He never allows us to forget what his characters are feeling. Berg’s Wozzeck, his tenth Metropolitan Opera role, will test the Swedish baritone’s skill at finding beauty while delving into the dark side."
Peter Mattei will this winter make his role debut in the title role of Alban Bergs Wozzeck at the Metropolitan Opera in New York. This spring include concert performances of Schubert's Winterreise together with pianist Lars-David Nilsson in Carnegie Hall and at Oper Frankfurt. He will also sing Bach's St Matthew Passion with the Concertgebouw Orchestra in Amsterdam and he'll perform Mahler's Kindertotenlieder with the Gulbenkian Orchestra in Lissabon.
The young Swedish soprano Christina Nilsson makes her Wagner debut with the role of Elsa in Lohengrin at Theater Dortmund. The premiere was on November 30 with further performances on December 8 and 14, January 12, March 22, April 10 and May 22.
Christina Nilsson has this autiumn appeared in several concerts. She has sung Strauss' Vier letzte Lieder with the Royal Stockholm Philharmonic Orchestra and she has been on tour in Germany with the Swedish choir Orphei Drängar. In February Christina will make another role debut when she sings Contessa in Le nozze di Figaro at the Royal Swedish Opera in Stockholm.
"Die junge schwedische Sopranistin Christina Nilsson, übrigens eine Stipendiatin u.a. der Birgit-Nilsson-Stiftung, legte als Elsa eine mehr als beachtliche Talentprobe ab. Ihr lyrischer Sopran, gleichwohl auch in dramatischeren Regionen belastbar, reicht rollentechnisch von der Mozart-Contessa bis zur Ariadne. Da kommt Elsa gerade recht. Sie bemühte sich nach Kräften, diese Konzeption auch mit roten Blutkörperchen anzureichern. Respekt!" Read the entire review of Lohengrin by Karl Masek in Online Merker through the link below
"Christina Nilsson als Elsa mit ihrem schönen lyrischen Sopran macht eine ungeheure Entwicklung durch. Unter schwerer Anklage des Brudermords stehend erträumt sie sich einen Retter, der nach einer enormen auch musikalisch dramatischen Steigerung auf mysteriöse Art erscheint und sie in einem Kampf mit ihrem Ankläger Telramund rehabilitiert.
„Nimm alles, was ich bin“ – sie verspricht ihm bedingungslose Liebe. „Elsa, ich liebe dich“, antwortet Lohengrin, knüpft an die Ehe aber die Bedingung des Frageverbots. Wie sie Lohengrin in der Brautnacht zusetzt und Telramund mit dem Messer ersticht ist eine großartige Emanzipationsgeschichte. Auch hier ein vielversprechendes Rollendebut." Ursula Hartlapp-Lindemeyer / Red. DAS OPERNMAGAZIN
Malin Byström has, together with the Helsingborg Symphony Orchestra led by Stefan Solyom, recorded orchestral songs by Alban Berg, Henri Duparc and Ture Rangström. Malin's Debut solo album is released on the label Swedish Society and will be distributed by Naxos. We hear Malin Byström interpret Alban Berg's Sieben frühe Lieder and a selection of orchestral songs by Duparc och Rangström.
Malin Byström is participating in another recent record release - a live recorduing of her first Salome at De Nationale Opera in Amsterdam, with the Concertgebouw orchestra led by Daniele Gatti. In March next year, Malin will make her debut at Teatro alla Scala in the same role.
Malin Byström har under hösten framträtt i rollen som Donna Anna i Don Giovanni på Royal Opera House Covent Garden, en föreställning som även livesänts på biografer runt om i världen. I maj lägger hon ytterligare en roll till sin repertoar, då hon sjunger Minnie i Puccinis Flickan från Västern på Kungliga Operan i Stockholm.