Hugo Alfvén - Symphony No. 5; Festival Overture; Andante religioso (Łukasz Borowicz)

Information

Composer: Hugo Alfvén

• Symphony No. 5 in A Minor, Op. 54
• Festival Overture, Op. 52
• Revelation Cantata, Op. 31: Andante religioso

Deutsches Symphonie-Orchester Berlin

Łukasz Borowicz, conductor

Date: 2026

Label: CPO

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Swedish composer Hugo Alfvén struggled throughout his career with financial instability, often relying on commissions and side tasks to make a living despite his immense talent and widespread acclaim. This ongoing dilemma significantly delayed the completion of his Fifth Symphony. While its first movement was premiered in May 1942 for his 70th birthday, more than two decades after his Fourth Symphony, the full work remained unfinished for another decade. Ultimately completed in time for his 80th birthday, the symphony stands as a triumph over creative and personal obstacles, allowing Alfvén to fully realize his artistic vision later in life.

Swedish composer, conductor, and violinist Hugo Alfvén (1872–1960) received his musical education in Stockholm, creating a substantial body of orchestral, choral, vocal, and chamber works deeply rooted in his homeland. Internationally, he is best celebrated for his light orchestral masterpiece Midsummer Vigil (Swedish Rhapsody No. 1), alongside two subsequent Swedish rhapsodies and the expressive orchestral tone poem Legend of the Skerries. Though less widely performed globally, his core symphonic legacy comprises five symphonies composed between 1897 and 1953, with Alfvén placing particular artistic personal value on his first four symphonies and their vivid depictions of Swedish landscapes and maritime life.

Łukasz Borowicz (born 1977, Warsaw) is a versatile conductor and Music Director of the Poznań Philharmonic Orchestra well as Principal Guest Conductor of the Cracow Philharmonic. Educated at the Fryderyk Chopin Music Academy under Bogusław Madey, he previously led the Polish Radio Symphony Orchestra and held long-term posts at Poznań and Wells Cathedral. Borowicz regularly conducts major European orchestras, guest conducts globally, and has an extensive operatic repertoire including premieres of rarely performed works. His recordings, notably of Grażyna Bacewicz, Andrzej Panufnik, and Feliks Nowowiejski, have received multiple Diapason d’Or and ICMA awards, highlighting his scholarship, advocacy of Central and Eastern European repertoire, and commitment to both symphonic and operatic music.

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