On the 26th of April there was a very rare opportunity to hear some of Peterson-Berger's major works in concert. The Norrkoping Symphony Orchestra (NSO) is currently recording all of P-B's orchestral works, including his violin concerto. This concert, dedicated to P-B's music, included the fifth symphony and the violin concerto, both which are to be recorded later this month. But the concert opened with P-B's own orchestration of five pieces from the "Flowers of Froso" (recorded on NSO's latest P-B release). The conductor Michail Jurowski and the orchestra both looked a bit tense, and the tension was not entirely positive. The orchestra did not sound as focused and crisp as one could except after hearing their CDs. Next up was the violin concerto with Ulf Wallin as the soloist. Now the orchestra responded better to maestro Jurowski, but the soloist struggled during the first half of the first movement. However, the cadenza halfway through the movement was executed beatifully and from there on the soloist was really back in the game. But I still prefer the Phono Suecia recording with Nilla Perriou, where in the fact the cadenza (and the sound to some extent) is the least convincing part of the entire recording. After the interval, P-Bs final symphony "Solitudo" was played. I learned that this symphony was a success when it was premiered in 1934, but the critics were ruthless as expected (it was payback time), and the symphony was soon to be largely forgotten for nearly 60 years. The orchestra now looked much more relaxed and the performance was so good that it could have been transferred to CD straight away. This symphony was recorded some five years ago with Segerstam conducting the Royal Opera Orchestra of Stockholm. Jurowski provided a different and interesting interpretation. In the first movement Jurowski interpreted the con moto-indication as a Allegro moderato, while Segerstam's tempo leaned towards Andante moderato. This made a huge difference, and Jurowski's approach resulted in a more stubborn than tragic atmosphere, and the connection with swedish folk music was made even clearer than in Segerstam's recording. Having said that, I think that both approaches are valid. However, Jurowski's swifter approach resulted in a better balanced symphony with a less dominating first movement. Jurowski also managed to link the final movement's contrasting sections into something meaningful and coherent, which Segerstam could not achieve. Mikael Rasmusson