The Berwald Hall () is a

concert hall A concert hall is a cultural building with a stage (theatre), stage that serves as a performance venue and an auditorium filled with seats. This list does not include other venues such as sports stadia, dramatic theatres or convention ...

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 Sweden's most populous and exclusive districts. It is an extremely expensive area, having the highest ho ...

district of

Stockholm Stockholm (; ) is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in Sweden by population, most populous city of Sweden, as well as the List of urban areas in the Nordic countries, largest urban area in the Nordic countries. Approximately ...

Sweden Sweden, formally the Kingdom of Sweden, is a Nordic countries, Nordic country located on the Scandinavian Peninsula in Northern Europe. It borders Norway to the west and north, and Finland to the east. At , Sweden is the largest Nordic count ...

. Construction on the building began in 1976 based on a design by architects Erik Ahnborg and

Sune Lindström Sune Lindström (2 November 1906 – 31 October 1989) was a Swedish architect. He was born in Malmö, Sweden, the son of Gustaf Lindström and Astrid Dahlén. He studied at the Royal Institute of Technology between 1926 and 1931. He followed w ...

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

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 approached the then Minister of Transport and Communications

Olof Palme Sven Olof Joachim Palme (; ; 30 January 1927 – 28 February 1986) was a Swedish politician and statesman who served as Prime Minister of Sweden from 1969 to 1976 and 1982 to 1986. Palme led the Swedish Social Democratic Party from 1969 until as ...

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 of classical music. At the age of 97 he continues to conduct concerts in Europe and the United States. Biography Herbert Blomstedt was born in Springfield, Massachusetts, t ...

conducted the

Swedish Radio Symphony Orchestra The Swedish Radio Symphony Orchestra () 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 orchestra broadcasts concerts on th ...

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 Östen Sjöstrand (16 June 1925 in Gothenburg – 13 May 2006) was a Sweden, Swedish poet, writer and translator. He became a member of the Swedish Academy in 1975 and was a member of the Academy's Nobel Committee in Literature, Nobel committee b ...

), and the

Symphonie fantastique ' (''Fantastic Symphony: Episode in the Life of an Artist … in Five Sections'') Opus number, Op. 14, is a program music, programmatic symphony written by Hector Berlioz in 1830. The first performance was at the Paris Conservatoire on 5 December ...

Berlioz Louis-Hector Berlioz (11 December 1803 – 8 March 1869) was a French Romantic music, Romantic composer and conductor. His output includes orchestral works such as the ''Symphonie fantastique'' and ''Harold en Italie, Harold in Italy'' ...

. Since 1979, the Berwald Hall has been home not only to the Swedish Radio Symphony Orchestra, but also to the

Swedish Radio Choir The Swedish Radio Choir is a professional choir. It is part of Sveriges Radio, the public radio broadcasting company of Sweden. The choir consists of 32 singers and their chorus master Marc Korovitch. Peter Dijkstra is the choir's most recent chief ...

. 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; , UER) is an alliance of Public broadcasting, public service media organisations in countries within the European Broadcasting Area (EBA) or who are member states of the Council of Europe, members of the ...

. The Berwald Hall is named after

Franz Berwald Franz Adolf Berwald (23 July 1796 – 3 April 1868) was a Swedish Romantic composer and violinist. 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 ...

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 def ...

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 Carl Johan Eldh (10 May 1873 – 26 January 1954) was a Sweden, Swedish artist and sculptor. Biography Eldh was born in Östhammar Municipality, Uppland, the son of Jan Petter Eldh, a blacksmith, and his wife Maria (née Wickman). His younge ...

. 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 originatin ...

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 language, 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. Diplo ...

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 Swedish Radio Symphony Orchestra 1970s establishments in Stockholm