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The Arts Intel Report

A Cultural Compass
For the World Traveler
A Cultural Compass
For the World Traveler

Herbert Blomstedt

Herbert Blomstedt

Jan 10–11, 2025
Residenzstraße 1, 80539 München, Germany

At 97, the Massachusetts-born Swedish maestro Herbert Blomstedt remains a working musician of profound, lightly borne spirituality. His unusual program for Munich juxtaposes Igor Stravinsky’s neoclassical Symphony of Psalms (1930) with Felix Mendelssohn’s exultant 11-movement “symphony-cantata” Lobgesang (Song of Praise, 1840). The Stravinsky, which runs 20 minutes, is angular and austere. The Mendelssohn, which runs 40 minutes, was composed in celebration of the 400th anniversary of Gutenberg’s printing press. A Reformation state of mind prevails, manifest in Lutheran chorale tunes including “A Mighty Fortress.” Neither work is played very often; what Blomstedt has up his sleeve in pairing them is something of a riddle. —Matthew Gurewitsch

Photo courtesy of the Bavarian Radio Symphony Orchestra