PREMIERE Jörgen Dafgård's Cello Concerto with Amalie Stalheim
On January 15, star cellist Amalie Stalheim will premiere Jörgen Dafgård's Cello Concerto Ulysses, where the adventures of Odysseus/Ulysses crept up on the composer from the subconscious. The Kristiansand Symphony Orchestra will play under the direction of Giordano Bellincampi in the Kilden Concert Hall in Kristiansand.
THREE QUESTIONS FOR JÖRGEN DAFGÅRD
Why Odysseus?
Sometimes the process is unconscious. I work intuitively when I compose and gradually discovered that there was a form and structure that I followed – the first movement has a sea motif and the second is characterized by a kind of fairy tale atmosphere. For the third movement, some kind of settlement or resolution was needed, and when I thought about it, I realized that I had built the concerto along the lines of The Odyssey, a story that I have been fascinated by since a very young age.
How have you experienced the collaboration with Amalie Stalheim?
It has been inspiring from the first meeting onwards. Since last summer when the first version was finished we have been going back and forth on different changes a lot until we were satisfied. Amalie's latest recordings of the solo part have really been top class!
What do you think we should listen for in particular in the concert?
Listen to the transformations in the imaginative second movement, for example how the solo voice suddenly finds itself "in the underworld" (with a melodically supporting bass voice in the musical movement). Also listen to the thrilling development at the end of the third movement.
Concert: Gjensyn with Bellincampi and Stalheim
In recent years, Jörgen Dafgård (b. 1964) has received increasing international attention. The double concerto Open Air for Duo Gelland from 2023 has been performed in several countries, and in the fall of 2025 a CD release of the double concerto Tandem for violin and bass clarinet was released on the British label Toccata. Dafgård is now also collaborating with the Orquesta Filarmónica de Bogotá both on concert performances and a new CD recording of orchestral music.