NDR Elbphilharmonie Orchestra / Francesco Piemontesi / Pablo Heras-Casado
Brahms / Dvořák
»This guy has more ideas than all of us put together,« said Johannes Brahms. »From the tunes he casts aside everyone else could pick the main themes for an entire oeuvre.« Brahms was referring to his friend and protégée Antonín Dvořák. If his claim were to be true, Brahms must have picked up quite a few throw-away tunes from his young colleague for his Second Piano Concerto: it is so overflowing with melodic ideas that the normal three movements for instrumental works are not enough. From the lyrical horn passages at the beginning and the staggeringly beautiful cello solo in the slow movement to the catchy tune in the finale – the soloist has a lot to handle. Young Swiss newcomer Francesco Piemontesi accepts this challenge in his concert with the NDR Elbphilharmonie Orchestra.
How deeply thankful Dvořák was to his mentor Brahms and his unwavering support can be sensed in his 6th Symphony. The opening of the last movement is a clear reference to the finale of Brahms’s 2nd Symphony – a humble homage of the young composer to his senior. Apart from this, the »happiness of existence, joy of living, and inborn cheerfulness«, as well as the »chant of Bohemia’s fields and forests«, can be heard in this work, so characteristic for Dvořák. For this concert, charismatic Spanish conductor Pablo Heras-Casado returns to perform with the NDR Elbphilharmonie Orchestra.
Performers
NDR Elbphilharmonie Orchester
Francesco Piemontesi piano
conductor Pablo Heras-Casado
Programme
Johannes Brahms
Konzert für Klavier und Orchester Nr. 2 B-Dur op. 83
– Interval –
Antonín Dvořák
Sinfonie Nr. 6 D-Dur op. 60
Subscription
NDR Elbphilharmonie Orchester / Subscription B