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PROGRAM NOTES

PROGRAM NOTES

THOMAS HAMPSON SINGS MAHLER

ABOUT THE ARTISTS
Thomas Søndergård
Danish conductor Thomas Søndergård is currently Music Director of the Royal Scottish National Orchestra ( RNSO ). Between 2012 and 2018 , he served as Principal Conductor of the BBC National Orchestra of Wales , after stepping down as Principal Conductor and Musical Advisor of the Norwegian Radio Orchestra .
He has appeared with many notable orchestras , including the Chicago Symphony , Berlin Philharmonic , Gewandhausorchester Leipzig , Toronto Symphony , London Philharmonic , and BBC Symphony , and is a familiar figure in Scandinavia , with such orchestras as Oslo Philharmonic , Gothenburg Symphony , Danish National Symphony , Royal Stockholm Philharmonic , and Helsinki Philharmonic . Recent highlights with RSNO have included tours to China and the U . S ., premieres of new commissions including Marsalis ’ Violin Concerto with Nicola Benedetti , and the much-praised Edinburgh International Festival . He has also enjoyed successful collaborations with Norwegian Opera , Royal Danish Opera , and the Royal Swedish Opera .
As part of the 2015 anniversary celebrations of both Sibelius and Nielsen , he conducted a wide variety of their works with many leading orchestras . His performance with the Swedish Radio Symphony of Carl Nielsen ’ s Symphony No . 5 was praised as “ equal of the great
pioneers of Nielsen interpretation ... It ’ s hard to imagine a finer performance of this remarkable symphony ” by Dagens Nyheter .
Thomas Hampson
Thomas Hampson has received international honors for his artistry and cultural leadership . Hampson ’ s operatic repertoire comprises over 80 roles and his discography includes more than 170 albums , with multiple nominations and winnings of the Grammy Award , Edison Award , and the Grand Prix du Disque . In 2010 , he was honored with a Living Legend Award by the Library of Congress , where he has served as Special Advisor to the Study and Performance of Music in America .
Notable engagements on the concert stage include the Oslo Philharmonic , Orchester Wiener Akademie , Sofia Philharmonic Orchestra , Klangforum Wien , Orchestre national de Lyon , and Prague Symphony Orchestra .
Hampson is an honorary professor of Philosophy at the University of Heidelberg and an honorary member of London ’ s Royal Academy of Music . In 2003 , he founded the Hampsong Foundation , through which he uses the art of song to promote intercultural dialogue and understanding . His international masterclass schedule is a continuing online resource of Medici . tv , the Manhattan School of Music , and The Hampsong Foundation livestream channel .
Thomas Søndergård
Thomas Hampson
Experience the Performance Again A livestream of this program is available for a limited time .
Martin Bubandt
Marshall Light Studio
FROM THE PODIUM
by Thomas Søndergård
When I choose the program for an orchestra that I haven ’ t worked with before , I usually go with feeling . Music is about communication , and when you meet someone for the first time you can be a little nervous . But you have to start somewhere , and this time we start with Strauss and Mahler … as simple as that ! Strauss and Mahler keep surprising me in many different ways , and Coleridge-Taylor ’ s music is quite new to me , but he is certainly a great composer .
The unifying theme of this program is the great stories that comes from seeing and experiencing nature . Lieder eines fahrenden Gesellen ( Songs of a Wayfarer ) contains a lot about both inner traveling as well as physical ; Ballade for Orchestra showcases some of the emotions that come from experiencing the great outdoors ; and Eine Alpensimfonie ( An Alpine Symphony ) describes nature in a very intense way .
Being Danish , I ’ ve performed a lot of Scandinavian repertoire . Composers like Sibelius and Nielsen have a close relationship to nature and describe it in a very intense way ; it ’ s the same with An Alpine Symphony . The greatness and force of the music certainly impact my interpretation . The greatest inspiration to me though , is meeting the musicians of the orchestra and hearing what they put into the music . From this encounter comes the biggest inspiration !
As for the audience , experiencing music is a very personal and intimate thing . I don ’ t want to tell anyone what to experience or feel when they hear a certain piece . I just hope that everyone will let themselves listen more with their hearts and less with their brains . In that way , music can do what it ’ s meant to do for us all : to make us better human beings .
SEPT-OCT 2022 / OVERTURE 13