Dmitri Shostakovich (1906–1975) wrote both his cello concertos for the legendary cellist, Mstislav Rostropovich, who was also a close friend. His second cello concerto was performed for the first time at a birthday concert on the occasion of Shostakovich’s 60th birthday in 1966. Compared with the intense and extroverted first cello concerto, written seven years earlier, the second concerto appears more subdued and reflective. One of the greatest cello virtuosos of today, Truls Mørk, is the soloist.

Symphonie Fantastique (1830) by Hector Berlioz (1803–1869) is one of the great milestones in the history of orchestral music – and possibly one of the most ambitious love letters ever written. In 1827, Berlioz fell deeply in love with the actor Harriet Smithson, who played the role of Ophelia in a production of Hamlet in Paris. Berlioz composed a symphony in her honour, which describes a young artist’s despair and intoxicated hallucinations brought on by unrequited love – from the ballroom to picturesque fields, continuing to the scaffold and his own execution.

(Translation from Norwegian: Sarah Osa)