Alan Gilbert conducts new Wozzeck at Royal Swedish Opera, makes Czech Philharmonic debut, and more this fall
(October 2024) — Appointed last year as Royal Court Kapellmeister by the King of Sweden, Grammy-winning conductor Alan Gilbert has been Music Director of the Royal Swedish Opera since spring 2021. This fall, he conducts seven performances of Berg’sWozzeck in the Swedish premiere of a new co-production with Opéra National de Lyon. Created by Lyon’s general and artistic director, Richard Brunel, who sets the action between the two world wars, this stars Peter Mattei in the title role opposite Malin Byström as Marie (Nov 16–Dec 14). Over the coming months, Gilbert also makes his Czech Philharmonic debut with a program of Nielsen and Robert Schumann (Dec 18–20), returns to the Royal Stockholm Philharmonic (Nov 20 & 21), and interprets Bruckner’s final completed symphony with Hamburg’s NDR Elbphilharmonie Orchestra, of which he is now in his sixth season as Chief Conductor (Dec 5–8).
New Wozzeck at Royal Swedish Opera (Nov 16–Dec 14)
Premiering in 1925, Alban Berg’s Wozzeck is one of the landmark operas of the 20th century. Based on an unfinished play by Georg Büchner and on the composer’s own wartime experiences, it paints a harrowing picture of a traumatized soldier and his descent into madness and violence. For Gilbert, who considers it one of the greatest masterpieces for the operatic stage, the work is “extremely precise but also tremendously expressive – a perfect balance of intellect and soul.”
The upcoming production reunites the conductor with baritone Peter Mattei after their acclaimed Royal Swedish Opera collaboration on Parsifal this past spring. Operamagazine reports:
“Musically, the performance was outstanding. This was Gilbert’s first Parsifal, but he guided the orchestra, soloists and chorus through the work as if he’s been doing it for years, superbly, balanced throughout.”
Mattei, who has already won praise for his “burnished sound and aching sadness” (The New York Times) as Wozzeck at New York’s Metropolitan Opera, will sing opposite Malin Byström, who proved herself “a superb Marie” (Bachtrack) at the Festival d’Aix-en-Provence. They will be joined by tenor Klas Hedlund as the Drum-Major, bass-baritone John Erik Eleby as the Doctor, and tenor Niklas Björling Rygert as the Captain.
A major player on the opera scene, Gilbert has helmed productions at such legendary international houses as La Scala and The Metropolitan Opera, where his account of Doctor Atomic was filmed, released on DVD, and recognized with a Grammy Award. He returns to Stockholm house next year for Royal Swedish Opera productions of Le nozze di Figaro (Jan 25–March 20) and Die Walküre (March 22–April 21).
Nielsen with Czech Phil (Dec 18–20) & Royal Stockholm Phil (Nov 20 & 21)
Gilbert is a longtime Carl Nielsen aficionado, whose recording of the Danish composer’s Second and Third Symphonies was named one of the “Best Classical Music Recordings of 2012” by The New York Times, recognized with a five-star review by BBC Musicmagazine, and hailed as “raw-boned, architecturally smart, [and] assertively played” by Gramophone, which chose his account of the Third as its favorite recorded version.
This fall, Nielsen’s music features prominently at two of the conductor’s guest engagements. He performs the composer’s Fifth Symphony and Helios Overture for his debut with Prague’s Czech Philharmonic, where they bookend a collaboration with Gilmore Artist Kirill Gerstein on Robert Schumann’s sole Piano Concerto (Dec 18–20).
Similarly, for Gilbert’s return to the Royal Stockholm Philharmonic, he leads Nielsen’s Second Symphony, “The Four Temperaments,” alongside Beethoven’s Coriolan Overture (Nov 20 & 21) and, at their second performance, Mozart’s 21st Piano Concerto with Marie-Ange Nguci as soloist (Nov 21). Having served as principal conductor of the Swedish orchestra from 2000 to 2008, Gilbert is now its Conductor Laureate.
Bruckner with NDR (Dec 5–8)
To complete his fall lineup, Gilbert rejoins Hamburg’s NDR Elbphilharmonie Orchestra for three performances of Bruckner’s monumental Eighth Symphony, marking the 200th anniversary of the composer’s birth (Dec 5–8). Released in 2018, Gilbert’s recording of Bruckner’s Seventh was also made with the NDR, from which he drew “playing of considerable eloquence” (Gramophone).
The conductor and orchestra recently celebrated the anniversary of another great Austrian composer, honoring Schoenberg at 150 with readings of Gurre-Lieder that opened the NDR’s season and closed the Lucerne Festival. Spain’s El País describes the Lucerne concert as “an absolutely exceptional version, led, in the best performance I can remember, by the American Alan Gilbert.” The review continued: “Hearing the Gurre-Lieder … is already, in itself, a rarity. Being able to enjoy it at this level is almost miraculous.”
As Susan Hall reports for Slipped Disc: “Gilbert has always been daring. In Hamburg, he has come into his own. Here he is appreciated for his adventurous ways and his spot-on conducting.”
Alan Gilbert: upcoming engagements
Nov 16, 19, 22, 25, 28; Dec 10 & 14
Stockholm, Sweden
Royal Swedish Opera
BERG: Wozzeck
Nov 20 & 21
Stockholm, Sweden
Royal Stockholm Philharmonic Orchestra
BEETHOVEN: Coriolan Overture
MOZART: Piano Concerto No. 21 (with Marie-Ange Nguci, piano; Nov 21 only)
NIELSEN: Symphony No. 2 (“The Four Temperaments”)
Dec 5, 6, & 8
Hamburg, Germany
NDR Elbphilharmonie Orchestra
BRUCKNER: Symphony No. 8
Dec 18–20
Prague, Czech Republic
Czech Philharmonic (debut)
NIELSEN: Helios Overture
R. SCHUMANN: Piano Concerto (with Kirill Gerstein, piano)
NIELSEN: Symphony No. 5
Jan 24
Stockholm, Sweden
Chamber Concert in the Golden Foyer (TBD)
Jan 25, 28, 31; March 4, 11, 14, 17, & 20
Stockholm, Sweden
Royal Swedish Opera
MOZART: Le nozze di Figaro
Feb 7 & 16
Hamburg, Germany
NDR Elbphilharmonie Orchestra
“Elbphilharmonie Visions” festival
Feb 7:
Alex PAXTON: new work
Bernd Richard DEUTSCH: Urworte after Goethe
Feb 16:
Dalit WARSHAW: Responses for orchestra
Magnus LINDBERG: Viola Concerto (with Lawrence Power, viola)
Dai FUJIKURA: Tocar y Luchar for orchestra
Feb 20–22
Boston, MA
Boston Symphony Orchestra
HAYDN: Symphony No. 48, “Marie Therese”
STRAVINSKY: Violin Concerto (with Isabelle Faust, violin)
HAYDN: Symphony No. 99
Feb 27, 28; March 1
Cleveland, OH
Cleveland Orchestra
SHOSTAKOVICH: Violin Concerto No. 2 (with Leonidas Kavakos, violin)
BEETHOVEN: Symphony No. 3, “Eroica”
March 22, 26, 29; April 5, 9, 12, 18, & 21
Stockholm, Sweden
Royal Swedish Opera
WAGNER: Die Walküre
March 27, 28 & 30
Hamburg, Germany
NDR Elbphilharmonie Orchestra
R. STRAUSS: Serenade for Winds in E-flat
MOZART: Piano Concerto No. 20 (with Emanuel Ax, piano)
BRAHMS: Symphony No. 2
May 8, 9 & 11
Hamburg, Germany
NDR Elbphilharmonie Orchestra
2025 Hamburg international Music Festival
DEBUSSY: Fantaisie (with Leif Ove Andsnes, piano)
FRANCK: Symphonic Variations
May 10
Hamburg, Germany
Chamber concert (on viola, with Elphier Quartet)
BRITTEN: Phantasy in F minor
BRUCH: String Quintet in A minor
SCHULHOFF: String Sextet
May 23 & 25
Hamburg, Germany
NDR Elbphilharmonie Orchestra
2025 Hamburg international Music Festival
BERG: Wozzeck in concert
June 5 & 6
Munich, Germany
Bavarian Radio Symphony
SIBELIUS: Night Ride and Sunrise
Thomas LARCHER: Cello Concerto (European premiere of Bavarian Radio Symphony, New York Philharmonic & Vienna Philharmonic co-commission; with Alisa Weilerstein, cello)
SIBELIUS: Symphony No. 5
June 18–21
Tel Aviv, Israel
Israel Philharmonic
DUTILLEUX: Symphony No. 2 (“Le Double”)
BRAHMS: Piano Concerto No. 1 (with Kirill Gerstein, piano)
June 27–29
NDR Elbphilharmonie Orchestra
June 27: Hamburg, Germany
June 28: Hamburg, Germany (open air)
June 29: Osnabrück, Germany (with livestream)
Kayhan KALHOR: Venus in the Mirror (double concerto for cello and kamancheh (with Kayhan Kalhor, kamancheh; Yo-Yo Ma, cello; world premiere)