Gothenburg Symphony Orchestra

Barbara Hannigan conductor and soprano
Cécile Lartigau, ondes martenot
Juan Zurutuza, piano
Matthew Fairclough, live electronics
Damkör ur Göteborgs Symfonikers Vokalensemble
Damkör ur Göteborgs Symfoniska Kör
Gothenburg Symphony Orchestra
Bar Avni, conductor

PROGRAMME
Laura Bowler: The White Book

Programme also includes
Ligeti: Clocks and Clouds
Messiaen: Trois petites liturgies de la présence divine
Conducted by Barbara Hannigan

VENUE NOTE:

In this unique world premiere, we hear Laura Bowler’s composition for soprano and orchestra, The White Book , a setting of selected texts from Nobel Prize-winner Han Kang’s novel of the same name. The work was commissioned for Principal Guest Conductor Barbara Hannigan, who also sings at this performance.

The White Book is a stunningly beautiful novel of sorrow and loss. This music composed by Laura Bowler and inspired by the book will now be premiered by the Gothenburg Symphony Orchestra.

South Korean author Han Kang was awarded the 2024 Nobel Prize in Literature for her “intense poetic prose that confronts historical traumas and exposes the fragility of human life.”

British composer Laura Bowler, born in 1986, is acclaimed for her multi-disciplinary work, which includes theatre and opera performances. With this composition written specifically for Barbara Hannigan inspired by the poetic novel The White Book, we experience a meeting of three of the foremost artists of the international scene.

Next, Barbara Hannigan leads the orchestra in one of Messiaen’s most controversial and groundbreaking works. He stirred emotions with an illustrative sound that broke away from the traditional approach to expressing religious messages.

Experience the remarkably ghostly instrument ondes Martenot, a massive percussion section and strings paired with a female choir. Sharing the stage with her mentor is also rising star conductor Bar Avni.

Barbara Hannigan is Principal Guest Conductor of the Gothenburg Symphony Orchestra since 2019. With her unsurpassed dramatic sensibility, she is among the absolute leading artists when it comes to artistic innovation. Her concerts are thought to be exciting, holistic experiences in which the end result is greater than the sum of its parts.