Allan Pettersson

Gustaf Allan Pettersson (19 September 1911 – 20 June 1980) was a Swedish composer. Today he is considered one of the most important Swedish composers of the 20th century. His symphonies developed a devoted international following, starting in the final decade of his life.

Biography

Pettersson, the youngest of four children of a violent, alcoholic blacksmith, was born at the manor of Granhammar in Västra Ryd parish in the province of Uppland, but grew up in poor circumstances in the Södermalm district of Stockholm, where he resided during his whole life. He once said of himself: "I wasn't born under a piano, I didn't spend my childhood with my father, the composer... no, I learnt how to work white-hot iron with the smith's hammer. My father was a smith who may have said no to God, but not to alcohol. My mother was a pious woman who sang and played with her four children."

In 1930, he began study of violin and viola, as well as counterpoint and harmony, at the conservatory of the Royal Swedish Academy of Music (Royal College of Music, Stockholm). He became a distinguished viola player, but also started composing songs and smaller chamber works in the 1930s. At the beginning of the World War II he was studying the viola with Maurice Vieux in Paris. During the 1940s he worked as a violist in the Stockholm Concert Society (later the Royal Stockholm Philharmonic Orchestra), but also studied composition privately with Karl-Birger Blomdahl, Tor Mann, and Otto Olsson. His production from this decade include the song cycle twenty-four Barefoot Songs (1943–45) based on own poems and a dissonant concerto for violin and string quartet (1949). Latter work is influenced by Béla Bartók and Paul Hindemith.

Orchestra

An orchestra (/ˈɔːrkᵻstrə/ or US /ˈɔːrˌkɛstrə/; Italian: [orˈkɛstra]) is a large instrumental ensemble used in classical music that contains sections of string (violin, viola, cello and double bass), brass, woodwind, and percussion instruments. Other instruments such as the piano and celesta may sometimes be grouped into a fifth section such as a keyboard section or may stand alone, as may the concert harp and, for 20th and 21st century compositions, electric and electronic instruments. The term orchestra derives from the Greek ὀρχήστρα, the name for the area in front of an ancient Greek stage reserved for the Greek chorus. The orchestra grew by accretion throughout the 18th and 19th centuries, but changed very little in composition during the course of the 20th century.

Allan

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Alun Francis

Alun Francis (born September 29, 1943) is a Welsh conductor.

Professional career

Francis was the principal conductor of the Ulster Orchestra from 1966 for ten years. In 1978 he conducted the premiere of Donizetti's opera Gabriella di Vergy in the Queen Elizabeth Hall in London.

From 1979 to 1985 he was Music director of the Northwest Chamber Orchestra in Seattle, then he was artistic counselor of the ensembles Opera Forum in Enschede.

From 1987 to 1990 he was Generalmusikdirektor of the Nordwestdeutsche Philharmonie. Afterwards he conducted the Haydn-Orchester in Bolzano, the Berliner Symphoniker and the Orchestra Sinfonica di Milano Giuseppe Verdi. From 2003 to 2008 he was principal conductor of the Thüringen Philharmonie Gotha. He has been a regular guest conductor of the Zagreb Philharmonic Orchestra. As of 2010, he is principal conductor of the Orquesta Filarmónica de la UNAM in Mexico City.

Discography

Francis recorded works of Francis Poulenc, symphonies and symphonic works of Otto Klemperer with the Staatsphilharmonie Rheinland-Pfalz, and symphonies of Allan Pettersson with different orchestras, among others. In 1980 he recorded Offenbach's operetta Robinson Crusoé with the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra. In 2000 he was awarded the first prize of the Cannes Classical Award in the category CD premiere for his recording of the complete symphonies of Darius Milhaud with the Sinfonieorchester Basel. He conducted a recording of Carl Reinecke's four piano concertos with pianist Klaus Hellwig and the Nordwestdeutsche Philharmonie.

Stuttgart Radio Symphony Orchestra

The Stuttgart Radio Symphony Orchestra (German: Radio-Sinfonieorchester Stuttgart des SWR) is an orchestra based in Stuttgart in Germany. The ensemble was founded in 1945 by American occupation authorities as the orchestra for Radio Stuttgart, under the name Sinfonieorchester von Radio Stuttgart (Symphony Orchestra of Radio Stuttgart). The radio network later became the Süddeutscher Rundfunk (SDR, South German Radio), and the orchestra changed its name in 1949 to the Sinfonieorchester des Süddeutschen Rundfunks (South German Radio Symphony Orchestra). In 1959, the orchestra took on the name Südfunk-Sinfonieorchester, and acquired its current name in 1975.

Like many broadcast orchestras in Germany, the orchestra has a reputation for performing contemporary music. Past principal conductors included Sir Neville Marriner (1983–1989), who later held the title of principal guest conductor.Georges Prêtre, who became the orchestra's artistic director in 1996, has the title of Conductor Laureate. From 1998 to 2011, Roger Norrington was principal conductor, and incorporated his ideas of historically informed performance, including minimal use of vibrato, into the orchestra's style of playing. Norrington now shares the title of Ehrendirigent (honorary conductor) with Georges Prêtre. In March 2010, the orchestra announced the appointment of Stéphane Denève as its next principal conductor, starting with the 2011-2012 season. His initial contract was for 3 years. In June 2013, the orchestra announced the extension of Denève's contract through the 2015-2016 season.