The Berwald Hall ( sv, Berwaldhallen) is a concert hall situated in a park landscape at Dag Hammarskjölds väg 3 in the

Östermalm Östermalm (; "Eastern city-borough") is a 2.56 km2 large district in central Stockholm, Sweden. With 71,802 inhabitants, it is one of the most populous districts in Stockholm. It is an extremely expensive area, having the highest housing p ...

district of

Stockholm Stockholm () is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in Sweden by population, largest city of Sweden as well as the List of urban areas in the Nordic countries, largest urban area in Scandinavia. Approximately 980,000 people liv ...

Sweden Sweden, formally the Kingdom of Sweden,The United Nations Group of Experts on Geographical Names states that the country's formal name is the Kingdom of SwedenUNGEGN World Geographical Names, Sweden./ref> is a Nordic country located on ...

. Construction on the building began in 1976 based on a design by architects Erik Ahnborg and Sune Lindström. The hall is shaped as a hexagon. The seating is 1,302 places, of which 482 are in the stalls. The hall won a

Europa Nostra Europa Nostra (Italian for "Our Europe") is a pan-European Federation for Cultural Heritage, representing citizens' organisations that work on safeguarding Europe's cultural and natural heritage. It is the voice of this movement to relevant inte ...

architecture award as an "admirably sensitive designed concert hall".

History

In 1966, the head of Swedish radio Olof Rydbeck and director of music

Karl-Birger Blomdahl Karl-Birger Blomdahl (19 October 1916 – 14 June 1968) was a Swedish composer and conductor born in Växjö. He was educated in biochemistry, but was primarily active in music and by his experimental compositions he became one of the big names ...

approached the then Minister of Transport and Communications Olof Palme about the need for a new home for the national radio orchestra where they could rehearse, record and give concerts in the same hall.SR Berwaldhallen January 2009, p11.
/ref> Plans began in the 1970s. The hall was originally supposed be located at the end of the Karlavägen esplanade but was moved further along the water. The site was selected to allow the hall to merge with nature and was positioned in the rock so it would not look too large. The interior hexagonal shape was partly for acoustic reasons, but the hall had to be acoustically adjusted several times subsequently. Gaps between the wood panels were adjusted to control the reverberation time.

Concert activity

The inaugural concert was on 30 November 1979.

Herbert Blomstedt Herbert Thorson Blomstedt (; born 11 July 1927) is a Swedish conductor. Herbert Blomstedt was born in Massachusetts. Two years after his birth, his Swedish parents moved the family back to their country of origin. He studied at the Stockholm Roy ...

conducted the

Swedish Radio Symphony Orchestra The Swedish Radio Symphony Orchestra ( sv, Sveriges Radios Symfoniorkester) is a Swedish radio orchestra based in Stockholm, affiliated with Sveriges Radio (Sweden's Radio). Its principal performing venue is the Berwaldhallen (Berwald Hall). The ...

and Choir in Franz Berwald's Sinfonie singulière, a commission from

Sven-Erik Bäck Sven-Erik Bäck (16 September 1919 – 10 January 1994) was a Swedish composer of classical music. He was born in Stockholm. Bäck studied from 1939 until 1943 in the King's Music-Academy and from 1940 until 1945, was a composition student of ...

- the cantata 'Vid havets yttersta gräns' (words by Östen Sjöstrand), and the Symphonie fantastique by Berlioz. Since 1979, the Berwald Hall has been home not only to the Swedish Radio Symphony Orchestra, but also to the Swedish Radio Choir. It also welcomes guest orchestras from Sweden and abroad. Most SRSO concerts at the hall are broadcast live nationally on P2 while others are also broadcast via the

European Broadcasting Union The European Broadcasting Union (EBU; french: Union européenne de radio-télévision, links=no, UER) is an alliance of Public broadcasting, public service media organisations whose countries are within the European Broadcasting Area or who ar ...

. The Berwald Hall is named after

Franz Berwald Franz Adolf Berwald (23 July 1796 – 3 April 1868) was a Swedish Romantic composer. He made his living as an orthopedist and later as the manager of a saw mill and glass factory, and became more appreciated as a composer after his death than he ...

one of Sweden's foremost

composer A composer is a person who writes music. The term is especially used to indicate composers of Western classical music, or those who are composers by occupation. Many composers are, or were, also skilled performers of music. Etymology and Defi ...

s of the 19th century. At the main entrance to the concert hall there is a sculpture of Berwald by the Swedish artist Carl Eldh. Since 2003, the Östersjöfestivalen (Baltic Sea Festival) in late summer each year is based at the Berwald Hall for a series of events. Orchestras from around the

Baltic Baltic may refer to: Peoples and languages * Baltic languages, a subfamily of Indo-European languages, including Lithuanian, Latvian and extinct Old Prussian *Balts (or Baltic peoples), ethnic groups speaking the Baltic languages and/or originati ...

and northern Europe participate, including youth ensembles.History of the Östersjöfestivalen, by year.
Accessed 15 August 2012. The building is sometimes casually called "the mine" (''gruvan'') in reference to the hall's location partially underground.

Diplomatstaden Diplomatstaden (Swedish for "Diplomat City") is a neighbourhood in the Östermalm district in central Stockholm, Sweden. As the name suggests, the neighbourhood is the home of many embassies and ambassadorial residencies. Diplomatstaden encompass ...

and the American embassy are located next to the Berwald Hall.

References

External links

Swedish Radio - Berwaldhallen
(Swedish) {{Authority control Culture in Stockholm Buildings and structures in Stockholm Concert halls in Sweden Tourist attractions in Stockholm Music venues completed in 1979 1979 establishments in Sweden