"so perfectly intertwined with Ek's playful piece that it feels like it was written for this very purpose…" Expressen (Jesper Strömbäck Eklund) 8 February 2025
The first appearance of Anders Hillborg’s music on the dance stage has been celebrated by critics. A Cup of Coffee, created by Mats Ek for the Royal Swedish Ballet, choreographs Hillborg’s Cello Concerto (2020) and premiered on 7 February. The 30-minute piece brings together Sweden's leading composer and the world-renowned choreographer to explore the tensions between couples at different stages of their lives. In rep until 15 March, it is designed by Marie-Louise Ekman and lit by Erik Berglund. Nir Kabaretti conducted the Kungliga Hovkapellet with Kati Raitinen as soloist.
It's all down to Anders Hillborg, claims Mats Ek. Hillborg's cello concerto gave context to the images that the images the creative choreographer had in his head…Images that must become dance…[the orchestra] conjures wild strings, swishing wind, dramatic crescendos, uneasiness and dreamy fragile sighs as well as a distinctive voice from solo cello.
Svenska Dagbladet (Anna Ångström) 8 February 2025
…an explosive unfolding of constantly new images…An elderly couple's kitchen, a women's collective, a wave of refugees, an ocean... are we dreaming together?…The 30 dancers in this powerful masterpiece make a crowd that is as if it had materialized from Hillborg's cello composition.
Dagens Nyheter (Maina Arvas) 8 February 2025
Cellist Kati Raitinen plays divinely…The piece has not previously been used for dance, but it is so perfectly intertwined with Ek's playful piece that it feels like it was written for this very purpose…35 minutes becomes a lifetime.
Expressen (Jesper Strömbäck Eklund) 8 February 2025
The orchestra matches the grounded yet timeless Ek universe with composer Anders Hillborg's music, which ranges from warm, enveloping sensitivity to violently dramatic strings. This wonderful…caffeine rush ends in an ominous image of our violent earth, with the dance mat torn up and the stage floor swallowing all.
Aftonbladet (Cecilia Djurberg) 8 February 2025 *****
Erik Wahlgren alternates with Raitinen as soloist across the run. Hillborg’s concerto was written for Nicolas Altstaedt and premiered in October 2020 with the Antwerp Symphony Orchestra, conducted by Fabien Gabel. Like Hillborg’s recent Viola Concerto for Lawrence Power and Piano Concerto No.2 for Emanuel Ax, the 27-minute work is cast in one unbroken movement. It is characterised by the intimacy of its scoring - much of the piece is written for strings alone, with dazzling virtuosity eschewed in favour of long, yearning cantabile lines, giving the work a soulful and reflective quality.