The tickets for Lundaland Philharmonic's two gala concerts on 31st August and 1st September, at Borgeby Castle and Torup Castle respectively, have been released. Suppose that it comes as no major surprise to you that I'll be conducting. With me on stage, I'll have Olga Trifonova who has done leading roles at the Met, Salzburger festspiele and Baden-Baden and Ahmed Agadi who sings main parts at the Bolshoy Opera in Moscow and the Mariinsky Theatre in St. Petersburg. You can book tickets by following this link

Just back from a short trip to St. Petersburg. I was glad to get to see the opening of the second stage of the Mariinsky theatre. It was absolutely incredible and I do not think any opera house in the world can rival the equipment and the facilities that they have. Next to the stage, there are platforms, hundreds of meters of depth where the sets are prepared for the stage. The previous decorations are lowered into the floor in order to get dismantled. The picture shows the foyer which is covered in backlit onyx and thus gives a shining impression. All this in the middle of the financial crisis! Great that some countries see culture and art as an asset rather than an expense.

Dear all,

Just a quick note that I am conducting the Lundaland Philharmonic string section in a concert in Lund City Hall on the 10th May at 19:00. The tickets can be obtained from the Lund city ticket office or by following this link: https://www.ticnet.se/event/263419

The programme features Grieg, Sibelius and Tchaikovsky as well as one or two show stoppers.

Looking forwards to this event

Kristofer

Dear all,

I have just returned from a skiing holiday in Norway. It was nice to get a rest. Just before I left, I visited the UK and especially the citys of London and Liverpool. In London I watched a rehearsal of Eugene Onegin at the Royal Opera House Covent Garden. It was a so called sitzprobe where the soloists sit on the stage. It also featured the full chorus and orchestra. I think it will become a very good production and I must say that I was very impressed by the soprano Krassimira Stoyanova who sang the role of Tatiana. It was one of the best interpretations I have heard of that role and after the rehearsal she even apologised to the conductor for holding back in order to save her voice!

I also met the brilliant pianist/composer Johan Hugosson and had long and interesting discussions with the wonderful film director Jonas Grimas who lives in London.

After London, I left for Liverpool and visited the Royal Liverpool Philharmonic. They performed Brahms's 4th symphony under the baton of Vassily Petrenko. It was interesting to see that Vassily and I have very similar approaches both to the music and to the audience. He addressed the audience in a very nice way and explained how the music works - using his colleagues in the orchestra to play musical examples as he described the different themes. It is, of course, far more interesting to listen to a work which you know a bit about and this is a very effective way of enhancing the experience of the listener. More of the same please!

Kris

Dear All,

As you may have noticed, my web page has been totally redisigned. I hope that you'll like the new design and that you can enjoy the content on it. So just relax, turn the volume up on the speakers and have a look around.

I would also like to inform you about my Facebook page where you also can follow me. You find it on www.facebook.com/kristoferwahlander. Feel free to press the 'like' button in order to get frequent updates and thoughts. I am very pleased that we now have followers from Sweden, Russia, Great Britain, Denmark, Finland, Switzerland, Germany, Norway, Taiwan, Iceland, Italy, USA, Ireland and Austria.

Thank you all for your support, I really appreciate it.

Wish you all a happy new year and a great 2013!

Kristofer

New sponsorship deal with Baker Tilly

Dear readers,
I am very pleased to be able to announce that international accountancy firm Baker Tilly has decided to support me in a sponsorship deal. I am very grateful for this support which helps me concentrate on artistic and musical matters.

 

 www.bakertilly.se

Dear friends,
I am very pleased to be able to share this link with you. It is a video from the Stockholm Culture Awards and I appear at 4:33. Hopefully this link should take you right there:
Click here to see the video!