This summer, Tommy Körberg will sing country rock – “it will be a bit cheeky,” he says, even though he is currently busy with the nine Christmas concerts at Annedalskyrkan in Gothenburg and at Cirkus in Stockholm.
We shouldn't celebrate the birth of just one child, I think that's stingy, we should celebrate everyone's! We should have that feeling, he insists.
"O Holy Night" is among the Christmas songs he can't avoid.
It's kind of like "City in Light", if I don't sing it, people get mad so I do, but they have to put up with something else too: a choral piece about a man who chooses the bar over the children.
In Swedish
On stage, as in previous years, is Gustaf Sjökvist's chamber choir, and together they have a well-established song list that contains more than light and joy. Divorces and Karl Bertil Jonsson's Christmas Eve have a given place, as does Leonard Cohen's "Hallelujah", but with Mikael Wiehe's Swedish lyrics.
Among the obvious songs is also Tomas Andersson Wij's "Now a sailor is dying again" with lyrics such as "There are three days until Christmas/ And a shitty year is over/ And the skin around the heart is thin."
There will be a few classics, the rest are songs that I think are important, he explains.
He will also talk about Christmas themes such as loneliness, but also about the deadly sins.
I wonder if there aren't more, like employment for example.
Highest price
Age is a high price for maturity, according to Tommy Körberg, who suffered a severe heart infection in 2020 in connection with Covid. Both heart valves were operated on, but he recovered with his artistic expression intact.
At 77, he still doesn't need to warm up his voice.
I usually clear my throat and go in. But I make sure the falsetto is in place.
In addition to the Christmas concert, Körberg will also perform at Skansen in Stockholm on New Year's Eve. There he will premiere a newly written song by Björn Ulvaeus, he tells Sveriges Radio . Singing is still his lifeblood, but he also enjoys teaching for free at the Stockholm Academy of Music.
They sing, I listen and give my tips, I've been doing it for almost 60 years, he says and tells how he himself prepares for a concert:
You have to mobilize desire before you go on stage: just shut up and sit quietly on a chair.
Age: 77 years.
Profession: Singer, artist and actor.
Christmas concerts: At Cirkus in Stockholm until 14/12 and at Annedalskyrkan in Gothenburg 17–19/12.
Listening to this Christmas: Christmas albums with Mahalia Jackson, Adolf Fredrik's choral music, The Pogues, Nat King Cole, James Taylor and Gregory Porter.
