Welcome to Sweden 2025

THE SWEDISH MANDOLIN FESTIVAL

Concerts in Sweden 22 - 30 August 2025

BRAHEKYRKAN AT THE ISLAND OF VISINGSÖ

Some of the concerts will take place in this beautiful church

A STEAMBOAT ON LAKE VÄTTERN

One of Sweden's most beautiful lakes

ABOUT THE FESTIVAL

22 - 30 August 2025

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Welcome to the festival!

FOR MANDOLIN ORCHESTRAS

IN AUGUST, 2025, THE SWEDISH MANDOLIN FESTIVAL INVITES

mandolin and guitar orchestras, professional players and conductors, from all over the world, to enjoy great music and art in Sweden. How would you and your mandolin orchestra like to make music around Lake Vättern, one of the most beautiful lakes in Europe?

Come to Sweden with your orchestra and give concerts in incredibly beautiful churches and palaces dating back to the Middle Ages. In August, 2025, the Swedish Mandolin Festival will continue the old tradition, since 1982, of a mandolin festival around Lake Vättern, a festival of concerts for everybody who loves to play and hear the mandolin, mandola and guitar. As a guest orchestra, you can choose how long you want to stay.

This exciting event will bring together enthusiasts from all over the world to play, to meet, exchange stories and ideas, and form international friendships. Who knows where it can lead? Get in touch with us so we can tell you more about how the Festival works.

JOIN THE SWEDISH MANDOLIN FESTIVAL ORCHESTRA!

For guest orchestras, please contact us for information about concerts, rehearsals, participation fees, prices, lodging and travelling. As a guest orchestra, you can play only your own concerts, but you can also join The Swedish Mandolin Festival Orchestra with your orchestra or as an individual player, together with Camerata Mandolino Classico. We will perform a wonderful programme of classical music for a big orchestra, all together - orchestras, individual players, Camerata Mandolino Classico and The Swedish Mandolin Festival Orchestra.

On this website you will find free sheet-music and mp3-files. You are very welcome to play the music, you can find here, with your mandolin and guitar orchestra in the concerts of The Swedish Mandolin Festival 2025. Please go to the navigation bar PREVIOUS PROGRAM and MANDOLIN MUSIC and scroll down and you will find the music. It is also free to play for all orchestras interested in this music, even if you don't participate in The Swedish Mandolin Festival. Good luck with your practise!

• Come to amazing Lake Vättern and enjoy being part of this very special international musical community. Everyone is welcome!

• Come to Sweden with your orchestra and be part of The Swedish Mandolin Festival 2025 and also play together with

CAMERATA MANDOLINO CLASSICO

Lake Vättern & Gränna Camping

THE CONCERTS

THE CONCERTS
Concerts will be held on the eastern shore of Lake Vättern in Medevi, Vadstena, Ödeshög, Gränna and on the island of Visingsö. The guest orchestras will be transported in a rented shuttle bus, exclusively for the festival's participants, private cars, and so on.

The general details are based on our experience at previous Festivals

• Both artistically and organisationally, it’s best if each visiting ensemble / orchestra presents one complete concert of its own.
• Each concert should last about 60 minutes and your orchestra will play two concerts.

Do you have any questions?
It is impossible to explain everything on a website, so please contact us with your particular questions about the Swedish Mandolin Festival. We will do our best to answer them. Do not hesitate to ask anything that interests you!

INFORMATION 2025

REGISTRATION & INFORMATION

Klick here!

Reservation for any changes

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THE SWEDISH MANDOLIN FESTIVAL

Concerts in Sweden 22 - 30 August 2025

Please contact us with your questions about The Swedish Mandolin Festival.

We have much more to tell you about the organisation, soloists,

orchestras, concerts, repertory, the big party and so on.

We are very happy to try to answer your questions.

Don't hesitate to ask everything you wonder!

Camerata Mandolino Classico plays Venetian baroque music

THE ORCHESTRAL PART LEADERSHIP

THE INTERNATIONAL OPERA & CONCERT PROJECT WITH CAMERATA MANDOLINO CLASSICO AROUND LAKE VÄTTERN IN SWEDEN

22 - 30 August 2025

Invitation and information

DEAR FRIENDS!

Here comes an invitation and presentation of the international opera & concert project with Camerata Mandolino Classico. Please read everything on the website. There you will see the preliminary concept of this project. It is very important that you read everything, including the history of Medevi, Vadstena, Ödeshög, Gränna and Visingsö so you know about our culture and history of this part of Sweden. 

THIS IS A PRELIMINARY PROPOSAL:

When I know your oppinion, and if you will join us, or not, I will be able to start booking rooms, concert halls, churces, sell tickets, contact media, start the real marketing to the audience and preparing the music and so on.

FRIDAY 22 AUGUST CHECK-IN

We will check-in at Medevi Brunn Friday 22 August 2025. We shall stay in small typical swedish picturesque cottages. We will start the days after breakfast with rehearsals. Then we will perform opera arias in the afternoons by Vivaldi & Canzoni napoletane in theaters, as well as instrumental and sacred music in churches in the evenings. We will work hard with the rehearsals the two first days at Medevi Brunn, but of course you can enjoy walking and drinking the mineral water at Medevi Brunn, as well as playing some outdoor games. There is a coffe shop and a restaurant at Medevi Brunn. We are a little bit far from Lake Vättern, so it is better to swim in the lake when we are coming to Vadstena and Gränna, where we have the beach outside the door.

I CAN NOT PROMISE:

I can not promise that the project will take exactely this form until I have more information from you, and than from the churches, concert halls, hotels, hostels and so on.

PLEASE NOTE:
Please note that it is not possible to attend this project, if you can't stay the whole period. If you have problem to stay the whole period, please contact me soon, so I can plan the concert programmes individually! Please also note that the opera-program is not the same as in the church concerts where we perform sacred music and instrumental baroque music.

At the moment, it is important that you form an idea of what this project is about, so you can decide whether the project interests you or not. After you have studied the contents regarding this project, I want you to contact me and tell me if you want to participate in these concert and opera performances. The concerts and opera performances will go on from 23 - 30 August 2025. I will give you a schedule later.

ORCHESTRAL PART LEADERSHIP HAS TWO FUNCTIONS:

1. Is to lead the part in Camerata Mandolino Clasicco in rehearsals and the performances of opera and concerts.

2. Is to lead the part in The Swedish Mandolin Festival Orchestra in rehearsals and concerts and support the guest orchestras and individuals, playing in The Swedish Mandolin Festival Orchestra. The concerts will go on from 27 - 30 August 2025.

WE WILL SUPPORT ORCHESTRAL PART LEADERSHIP

Furthermore, we will support all orchestral part leaders of the orchestra Camerata Mandolino Classico with a small financial support in the form of a travel allowance, from your home country to Sweden of SEK 2,000 (SEK Swedish krona) plus travel allowances within Sweden of SEK 2,50 (Swedish krona) / km if you drive, with your own car, to and from rehearsals, opera performances and concerts between the hotel, hostel, private apartment, camping place or your residence in Sweden. Accommodation at the hostels, is free, only for the orchestral part leaders (mandolin 1, mandolin 2, mandola and guitar). Other participants pay themselves for lodging and travel to and from Sweden.

OPERA SINGERS AND PROFESSIONAL MUSICIANS

Symbolic allowances are issued to all professional opera singers and musicians, but not to amateur musicians. Contact me personally and you will receive information about your gage. The money is paid out in arrears within 1-2 months and sent to your bank account.

THE ROOMS AT THE HOSTEL OF MEDEVI BRUNN

The rooms are antique and charming but not in new condition, not as a five star hotel. The hostel has access to a well-equipped kitchen, so we can cook our food there and also eat together during cozy and pleasant dinners after the concerts. Please bring your wine and beer from your home country, if you are traveling by car. (I drink, as you already know, only non-alcoholic beer or mineral water). I don't mean that we shall have a drinking party. That is just to inform you that wine and beer is very expensive in Sweden.

Food and drinks are not included in the arrangement. You should bring a towel and sheets with you if you can fit them in your luggage if you fly. If, on the other hand, you go by train or car, you must definitely bring a towel and sheets. I can lend fresh sheets and towels to a maximum of 5 people. We purchased towels and sheets for previous festivals.

THE ROOMS AT THE HOTEL OF MEDEVI BRUNN

If you think you want to stay in a more luxurious room in the hotel at Medevi Brunn, you will receive a subsidy corresponding to what the hostel costs, but you will have to pay for the hotel yourself. You will receive the subsidy afterwards.

PLEASE CONTACT ME!

If you like to be an orchestral part leader of Camerata Mandolino Classico, please contact me. I will be happy to try to answer your questions! 

Best wishes!

Lars Forslund

Cottages house & coffe shop at Medevi Brunn

CAMERATA MANDOLINO CLASSICO

Concerts in Sweden 22 - 30 August 2025

Please contact us with your questions about Camerata Mandolino Classico.

We have much more to tell you about the organisation, soloists,

part leadership, concerts, repertory, the big party and so on.

We are very happy to try to answer your questions.

Don't hesitate to ask everything you wonder!

Reservation for any changes

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The concert & dinner hall at Medevi Brunn

ABOUT MEDEVI BRUNN

The spa was founded in 1678, the same year as Antonio Vivaldi was born in Venice, by Count Gustaf Soop and the royal doctor Urban Hjärne. Queen Hedvig Eleonora had a summer residence built at Medevi säteri, on the hills overlooking the village, at the recommendation of Hjärne. Since then, people have been coming to Medevi every summer to cure themselves from a ilments by drinking the mineral water and by covering themselves in mudwraps. Most buildings date back to the 18th and 19th centuries.

MY RELATION TO MEDEVI BRUNN

In 1985 I organized an international mandolin festival here at Medevi Brunn with Yasuo Kuwahara and his orchestra Filmusica from Japan, Keith Harris with friends from Australia, people, soloists and orchestras from Sweden, Denmark, Germany and Austria and so on.

Birgitta klostret & klosterkyrkan in Vadstena

ABOUT VADSTENA

A short history of Vadstena. First known mentioning of Vadstena dates back to the second half of the 13th century. The area around the town had been important already during the Viking Age and was considered a center of power. It would eventually be the testimony of the well-known Swedish King Magnus Eriksson and his queen Blanka that in 1346 gifted the area of Vadstena to Birgitta Birgersdotter’s planned abbey. Birgitta would later become a saint known as Heliga Birgitta,or Saint Bridget in English.

Vadstena Abbey was completed in 1384, eleven years after the death of Birgitta Birgersdotter. A town began to grow around the abbey and it received its town privileges in the year 1400. The importance of the town and the abbey grew during the 15th century and Vadstena became a cultural center in Scandinavia. The abbey would at the mid 15th century be in possession of around 1000 farm steads.

If you remember the story of the Venetian nobelman Pietro Querini in ”The Lofoten Suite” I told you about that Querini visited Vadstena klosterkyrka 2 May 1432 for a Catholic Mass, on the way back to Venice after his stay in Lofoten.

Vadstena Abbey met its adversary in the first half of the 16th century. Gustav Vasa became Swedish king in 1521 and would soon thereafter introduce the Reformation in Sweden. The Reformation meant a fast decline in the importance of the abbey. Its struggles did, however, continue all the way to 1595 when its last parts closed down.

Gustav Vasa affected the town in more ways than one. He did not only make the decision that would lead to the end of the abbey. He also began the construction of fortification in the town. The purpose of the construction would, however, change before completion. The final result was eventually Vadstena Castle, a renaissance castle that was first completed in the first half of the 17th century. Even before completion, it did house royals. Not even a decision to build a castle in the town in 1544 helped to increase the size of the stagnating population. Vadstena lost its town privileges in 1643 in competition with nearby Askersund. The last royal to stay in the castle was Ulrika Eleonora in 1716. The castle was abandoned and would for centuries mainly be used for smaller workshops and storage. The old buildings that were once the abbey saw a similar decline in importance. They were for some time used as a prison before being turned into a mental hospital in 1829.

MY RELATION TO VADSTENA
First time I visited Vadstena was in 1972 and I was a young student, visiting the Opera Festival of Vadstena Opera Academy. Next time was in 1978 when I started to play the viola in Vadstena Chamber Orchestra for about three years. It was a wonderful time and I learned so much about musicality and how to play in an orchestra. I worked with very good musicians of Norrköping Symphony Orchestra.

In 1982 I founded the first mandolin festival, ever in Sweden at Visingsö and Vadstena. Since then I have played hundreds of concerts in Vadstena and organized mandolin festivals, opera festivals, choral festivals and so on. Allways playing the mandolin as a soloist with stringorchestras and of course with mandolin orchestras. All my friends, like Takashi Ochi, Keith Harris, Yasuo Kuwahara and others, and many,many German, Italian, Japanese, Scandinavian mandolin orchestras, Russian domra and balalaika orchestras, Russian and Czech chamber orchestras, as well as more than 100 italian musicians and operasingers has performed in my festivals here in Vadstena and around the Lake Vättern. Many choirs, instrumental soloists and opera singers has given concerts and opera performances in my festivals. I lived and worked in Vadstena 1992 – 1998 and than I moved to Ödeshög.

The hostel in Ödeshög

ABOUT ÖDESHÖG

Ödeshög carries not just one, but several exciting stories that have played a major role in Sweden's history. These stories include everything from a treacherous assassination plot against a grand king, hidden treasures, the fight for women's rights, unsolved mysteries from the Viking Age and revelations from God. Ödeshög is mostly known for its historical remains from the Iron Age and the Middle Ages. But in a bog called Dags mosse, not far from Alvastra Klosterruin, archaeologists have found remains of a settlement with lots of exciting finds that stretch all the way back to the Stone Age, that is, an incredible 5,000 years back in time.

The settlement is a so-called stilt building, where stilts have been built around a floor of logs that have been laid directly on the bog (wetland). It is 1,000 square meters in size and consists of thousands of stakes and sticks. Remains of nearly 100 fireplaces have also been found, which indicates that there were no fixed walls, but people lived in temporary huts. This is one of Sweden's strangest and most imaginative wooden constructions that remain from the Stone Age. During the excavations, several tools were found that were commonly used in hunting, fishing and grain cultivation. But they also found jewelry and among the slightly more unpleasant finds, a skull that had signs of being scalped. Rock carvings consist of various symbols that have been carved, cut, ground or tapped into rock slabs and rocks. In Hästholmen, not far from Hästholmen harbour, there is a large rock carving with scenes, rites and events from the Bronze Age people in Östergötland. There are at least 207 symbols on the slab. Some of the more difficult to interpret & debated symbols consist of a couple of ships representing, among other things, two embracing people.

Some archaeologists say the image probably depicts a bride and groom on a ship. In other words, on the shores of Lake Vättern, we would see a love and fertility rite practiced over 3,000 years ago. There are also motifs of animals, hunting scenes, people and so-called bowl pits. Bowl pits are small pits in the rock face that probably had great significance in sacrificial contexts to get close to the gods or other supernatural beings.The Smoke Stone, which stands next to Rök's church near its original location, still teases researchers with its complicated web of stories. The stone is studded with runes and maple runes - on the front there are around 280 and on the back around 450. Even the narrow sides bear text and even the top surface has been used, but the rune carver has placed his text so ingeniously that all the runes can be read by whoever standing on the ground. It has been said that Rökstenen is our first Swedish poem and it must already have been considered a literary and artistic masterpiece when it was written. The decorative text has been executed by a runic carver with a distinct sense of form and ornamentation. He also considers himself a very literate poet with a great knowledge of the mythical stories and imaginary worlds of the time. Through his strange creation, he seems to have deliberately wanted to put the reader's acumen and education to the test. Nowadays, researchers almost agree on how the Rökstenen's runes should be read, but not how they should be interpreted. Here there are exclusive elements of legends, dark myths and a number of different heroic poems as well as episodes from Varin's own family history.

The smoke stone still hides its secret - maybe you'll be the one to crack the code? Through its monumental size and rich decoration, the Smoke Stone reveals that Varin most likely belonged to an influential family. In addition, the prominent place of the god Tor in the later part of the text can be explained by an effort to give Varin and his family a divine anchoring and legitimacy. In this way, the stone certainly functioned both as a memorial to a missing son and as a status symbol for the family.

The story behind Alvastra Klosterruin. Alvastra monastery was founded in 1143 by French monks who belonged to the powerful Cistercian order. From Clairvaux in France to Swedish Östergötland, the monks brought with them modern methods of administration, technology and construction. During the Middle Ages, the area around Alvastra was an area that had great significance for the rise of the Swedish kingdom. Here lived the powerful Sverkerätten with Sverker the elder, known as the king of the Eastern Goths and later became the ruler of the Swedes. We don't know for sure, but there are many indications that it was thanks to the Sverkerätten that Alvastra monastery was built. For nearly 400 years, Alvastra monastery flourished. But with the Reformation, the monastery was dissolved and the land ownership was transferred to the crown. Alvastra's property became Alvastra's royal estate. The material in the monastery buildings themselves came to interest various builders and was used, among other things, to build Vadstena Castle and for Per Brahe's buildings by Lake Vättern. Since 1898, the monastery ruins have been restored and conserved in several rounds. Saint Birgitta in Alvastra Kloster St. Bridget (1303-1373) is one of Europe's patron saints and one of the most interesting and important figures of the Middle Ages. She is world-renowned for her apparitions, for the monastic order she founded and for her long pilgrimages.

She set off for Spain, Jerusalem, Bethlehem and Rome. But it was in Alvastra monastery outside Vadstena that she received many of her most famous revelations, and it was there that she felt called to be "Christ's bride and mouthpiece".

MY RELATION TO ÖDESHÖG
My parents bought a mannor house outside Ödeshög 1986 and they moved from Stockholm where I also growned up. In 1998 my family moved from Vadstena to that big house and we started immediately “The House of Music” (Musikens hus), and started to organize concerts, opera and rehearsals in the house. I started also the cultural exchange with Venice 1998. After that, my involvement with Venice took off at the highest level with hundreds of exchange concerts in Venice and Sweden. In the mansion we could also host all the Venetian musicians during our rehearsals, operas and concerts. In 2011 we sold the house and moved in to the center of the village of Ödeshög.

Gränna, Visingsö and Lake Vättern

ABOUT GRÄNNA

Few places in Sweden are as associated with the thought of one single product as Gränna. The town lying next to lake Vättern is famous for its traditional sweet and that is the ”Polkagris”. Once in town, it is really difficult to miss the stores selling the sweets because they are literally everywhere.

Polkagrisar,this particular candy stick is what has made Gränna famous. A poor 35-year-old widow, Amalia Eriksson, invented the peppermint candystick in Gränna in 1859. While in Gränna you will not only have the possibility to taste these hard sweets but you can see how they are made. There are several small shops around the town and most of these are making their own sweets and it is all on display for you to see.

A short history of Gränna. The town of Gränna was founded in 1652 by count Per Brahe the Younger. The original name of the town was Brahe-Grenna. There is no major event in the history of Gränna itself. But there is a lot more history to explore on the nearby island of Visingsö.

ABOUT VISINGSÖ

Here was the residence of the Swedish Monarchy during the 12th and 13thcenturies. Four kings died on the island during that period. They are Karl Sverkersson, Erik Knutsson, Johan Sverkersson and Magnus Ladulås. The island also had oak trees planted by the Swedish navy during the 19th century. This was to secure the availability of timber for future ship constructions. The issue that now has occurred is that the timber is ready, but there is a lack of ships being built of timber.

In the middle of lake Vättern – Sweden’s second largest lake –you will find the island of Visingsö. This island has historic importance in Sweden. While either walking, cycling, or taking a horse ride around the island you will have the possibility to enjoy all the sights, the nature, and the water that is all around. The Visingsborg Slottsruin consists only of the south wing, just a fraction of the former castle. In its last phase, which was completed in 1662, the fairy-tale castle consisted of four equal-sized wings, which formed a closed square around a large courtyard.

The castle had four towers whose gilded roof tops towered over the roof sand stepped gables. To protect against attacks, the complex was surrounded by ramparts and bastions, which were equipped with cannons. Weapons were stored in the armory for about 800 soldiers, and the last lord of the castle had a private army of about 200 men.

The size of the castle was no coincidence, because it was the seat of the noble family Brahe, which possessed extensive estates in the provinces of Västergötland, Småland and Östergötland and formed the largest county in Sweden in the 17th century.

The construction of the castle began in 1561 with the west wing, after Per Brahe the Elder became a Count, appointed by King Erik XIV. His son Magnus Brahe added the east and south wing, which formed the state lyest part of the castle, with its halls and chambers.

The last lord of the manor, Per Brahe the Younger, who also had built the luxurious manor Brahehus, completed the castle by adding the missing north wing. As an educated and very history-interested contemporary he had installed an imposing library and gave the entire castle the last luxurious touch.

MY RELATION TO GRÄNNA / VISINGSÖ
In 1982 I started Sweden's absolute first mandolin festival and there were musicians from America including Mark Davis and Marilynn Mair from Providence, Rhode Island, USA and mandolinists from Berkely Mandolin Orchestra, San Francisco and the legendary mandolin enthusiast Norman Levin from Arlington, Washington D.C.

On Visingsö, we recorded a gramophone record, a double LP that became a success in Sweden and was played on radio and TV. One of the mandolin concertos by Vivaldi became the signature tune for a television program, the Italian language course "Buongiorno Italia". I sent the LP to Takashi Ochi, who by return mail invited me to Das Deutsche Zupforchester, and after that the whole international mandolin world opened up to me and collaborations with Japanese, German, Austrian and Scandinavian mandolin orchestras became extremely large.

MUSICA BRAHE FESTIVAL
In 2002 I founded Musica Brahe Festival with 56 concerts in 22 comunes and in 4 regions around Lake Vättern. The name reflects Count Per Brahe the Younger, who was a great humanist during Sweden's great power era in the 17th century. He was the king's closest man and he founded the Swedish school system and built schools, also in Finland. He was a highly educated man and he studied in Venice in Italy, Giessen in Germany and lute playing with John Dowland in London, England.

VENETIAN MUSICIANS & FIREWORKS
There were many Venetian musicians invited to the Musica Brahe Festival 2002 and the palette of music spanned from the Baroque and Renaissance to contemporary music. Music was performed for small chamber ensembles, Spaghetti opera with skilled opera singers and the region's best symphony orchestra which, among other things, played Handel's fireworks music outdoors in the castle grounds at Vadstena castle with professional pyrotechnicians who timed the fireworks exately with the music, bar to bar, and when the timpani played the fireworks were in the air at the millisecond right.

CULTURAL SCHOLARSHIP
This event led to that I, as a producer, received Ödeshög's cultural scholarship for a considerable sum as the year's most interesting cultural worker, for my efforts in the Musica Brahe Festival, which I myself had created. I worked, at the time, as a professional music producer in the state and regional cultural activities of Sweden in Jönköping County.

40 YEARS OF MANDOLIN MUSIC
For more than 40 years, every summer, I have organized music festivals, always with the mandolin in focus, around Lake Vättern and its surroundings. In 2005, I founded the Vivaldi Festival of Sweden, which celebrates its 20th anniversary 2025. During these years, my ensembles Musica Festiva and Camerata Mandolino Classico have played thousands of concerts in Sweden, Italy, Germany, Austria, Spain, Norway, Denmark and Japan. Mostly of the concerts in Japan was played with Maestro Yasuo Kuwahara.

THE PROJECT OF CAMERATA MANDOLINO CLASSICO
This project that we will now jointly launch is part of the Vivaldi Festival of Sweden and I look forward to playing with you during the summer of 2025 in Sweden when Sweden is at its most beautiful with bright nights, lovely baths outdoor and rolling landscapes in our beautiful region around Lake Vättern.

The very best regards! Lars Forslund - Artistic Director of The Vivaldi Festival & The Mandolin Academy

A warm Welcome to the Musical Festivity close to the Nature!

THE SWEDISH MANDOLIN FESTIVAL

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Lake Vättern and the wonderful beach at Gränna

THE SWEDISH MANDOLIN FESTIVAL

Concerts in Sweden 22 - 30 August 2025

Please contact us with your questions about The Swedish Mandolin Festival.

We have much more to tell you about the organisation, soloists,

orchestras, concerts, repertory, the big party and so on.

We are very happy to try to answer your questions.

Don't hesitate to ask everything you wonder!

Reservation for any changes

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WATCH OUR VIDEOS

Beautiful 3D films about The Carnival of Venice in the 18th century. Or play along to our soundtracks.

Music by Vivaldi, Scarlatti, Bach, Mozart, Beethoven, Näslund and others