“Towards Paradise” is a journey in every sense. Emerging from the darkness backstage, the soloist makes his way onto the stage, wandering through the orchestra, and ultimately fading into the distance in ethereal silence. Who could be a more fitting soloist than Håkan Hardenberger? The exceptional trumpeter from Malmö has always championed contemporary music, with composers like Hans Werner Henze, Toru Takemitsu, Arvo Pärt, and Harrison Birtwistle writing works specifically for him. The Berliner Morgenpost once called him a “supersonic virtuoso,” while the British Guardian praised him as a “colossus.”