Celebrating its 50th anniversary, the Ostrobothnian Chamber Orchestra and its artistic director Malin Broman have released their first joint album. Stockholm Diary includes Arnold Schoenberg’s cult work Verklärte Nacht as well as premiere recording of Esa-Pekka Salonen’s Stockholm Diary.

The Ostrobothnian Chamber Orchestra is conducted by Malin Broman, a Swedish violinist who is also the violin and viola soloist on the album. The unifying factor in the album is not only Schoenberg’s work Verklärte Nacht, but also the city of Los Angeles. “The composers of the album, Schoenberg, Salonen and Stravinsky, have all been in Los Angeles at some point, so the name of the album could just as well have been LA Diary,” laughs Malin Broman.

However, the name of the album comes from Esa-Pekka Salonen’s (b.1958) string orchestra work of the same name. The Stockholm Diary (2004), composed for the Stockholm Chamber Orchestra, has not been recorded before.

The main work of the album is Verklärte Nacht by Arnold Schoenberg (1874-1951). A programmatic work based on a poem by Richard Dehmel followed Schoenberg throughout his life; the composer orchestrated the work he originally composed for the string sextet twice; in 1917 and in 1943.

As a contrast to this is Igor Stravinsky’s (1882-1971) Concerto in D. The Baroque rhythmic and energetic concerto is one of the composer's late neoclassical works.

From Salonen we also hear the Lachen verlernt (Forgotten Laughter) composed for the solo violin work in 2002. The title of the work refers to Arnold Schoenberg’s work Pierrot Lunaire, in which the soloist asks Pierrot Harlequin to teach him to laugh again.

Glanz for solo viola is from the repertoire of the English composer Sally Beamish (b.1956). In 2016, Beamish composed the work for the memory of a good friend and colleague, Sir Peter Maxwell Davies. “The German word Glanz comes from Richard Dehmel’s poem Verklärte Nacht, which Arnold Schoenberg used as the basis for his masterpiece of the same name,” says Beamish.