Pilgrimage

Dear Readers,

One of the favorite pastimes for Helsinki folk, particularly for students and young travelers, is to take the ferry, or "booze-cruise," or "love boat" (one usually leads to the other) to Stockholm. Now that I live in Helsinki and Stockholm is so close by, and is Pettersson's home, it seems only appropriate that I make the pilgrimage to the great master's home city. 

Pettersson grew up in a section of Stockholm called Södermalm, which was a slum during Pettersson's childhood but seems to be quite the hip neighborhood today. A lot can happen to a city in 100 years--in fact, just look at what has happened to East Berlin in the past 20 years!

Apologies if this entry looks a bit cluttered. Blogger is not a easy place to manipulate pictures!

Segerstam conducts Pettersson Seven in May!

Corner of Skånegatan and Nytorget.

From what I read, Pettersson's childhood home was on Skånegatan 87, facing the public square called Nytorget. 

Nytorget.

On this beautiful day, many people were out on Nytorget enjoying the sun.

Skånegatan 87.

Pettersson's family lived in the cellar level of Skånegatan 87. I wonder if those windows used to have bars over them, and if the nice café terrace is outside the master's very boyhood home?

Pettersson apparently lived on a street called Åsögatan, but I have no more information beyond that.

Looking east on Åsögatan.

Looking west on Bastugatan.

Towards the end of his life Pettersson moved into a house on Bastugatan 30, which was a great improvement over his previous living conditions. On the eastern end of this street is a rather steep hill, which I doubt Pettersson could have managed on his own.

 

 

Bastugatan 30.

Bastugatan 30 is fenced off, and there is no indication anywhere nearby that this is the location where Pettersson lived. 

 

Standing on the rocks and placing my camera over the fence, I got a picture of the house which is presumably where Pettersson lived.

 

Behind Bastugatan 30 is a beautiful view of the city.

Bättre än ingenting...

I was really hoping to give this post a title something like: "Dude, the Dude conducts Pettersson!!!" The "Dude," by the way, is Gustavo Dudamel, music director of the Göteborg Symphony Orchestra. People seem to always forget that he has this orchestra as well; they only talk about his LA and Simon Bolivar gigs. Anyhow...

On 28 April 2011 the Göteborg Symphony Orchestra announced their 2011-2012 season, and I am pleased to say that Pettersson did make it onto the schedule. However, if you were guessing that it would be either the Barefoot Songs or the Symphony No. 7, you guessed correctly! You can check it out here. 

As it appears that, for some people at least, Pettersson is only about the two works mentioned above, Göteborg probably won't hear any more Pettersson for a while after next year, as the Symphony No. 7 was recently performed, in May 2010.

Kom igen nu!!!

Apologies if this is a bit of a rant. 

I suppose if there were going to be more Pettersson performances besides the ones I knew about already, they would have been on Gehrman's webpage first. 

Today, 27 April 2011, both the Swedish Radio Symphony Orchestra (SRSO) and the Royal Stockholm Philharmonic Orchestra (RSPO) announced their 2011-2012 concert seasons, and I am greatly disappointed (but not entirely surprised) to tell you that both concert seasons are 100% Pettersson-free. I suppose I can forgive both ensembles, as the Swedish Radio Choir performed the choral arrangement of the Barefoot Songs (although the SRSO scrapped a performance of the Mesto) and the RSPO will perform both the Symphony No. 7 and the Doráti version of the Barefoot Songs in the next few weeks. Nevertheless, I find it shameful that these two ensembles, who have collectively premiered most of Pettersson's orchestral works, feel that they have sufficiently acknowledged the 100th birthday of their own country's foremost symphonist. Could you imagine if this year's 100th anniversary of Mahler's death were to be acknowledged only with a performance of his Symphony No. 1 in Vienna with the Wiener Philharmoniker? I think not. 

Yes, I know I'm biased, and I also know that there are other factors at play (like getting butts-in-seats). It goes without saying that Pettersson is just one of many composers who have seen a major anniversary pass with only the slightest of acknowledgements. An equally shameful example would be the case of Samuel Barber, one of my favorite composers, whose 100th birthday went practically unnoticed in the states last year. I mean, this is the guy who wrote the Adagio for Strings, surely one of the most performed pieces written in the 20th century. In fact, not a single major American orchestra, unless you include the Austin Symphony, dedicated a single program to his music, which I don't think is much to ask considering how accessible most of his music is. Ok, well the Detroit Symphony did play several of his important works last year. Ironically, an all-Barber program was performed by the Toronto Symphony Orchestra, and even the Sibelius Academy here in Helsinki put on an all-Barber concert of his vocal music. 

I am sure that most of you are familiar with this, but once your tastes in classical music develop beyond the top 100 works, hearing your favorite music in concert can be terribly frustrating. 

Enough about this. For the remaining major Swedish orchestras, it comes down to Malmö, Göteborg (new season announcement tomorrow, 28 April 2011!), and Norrköping. I would be extremely surprised if Norrköping did more than the Symphony No. 6, of which I am already eternally grateful. 

Kom igen nu!!!