NDR Elbphilharmonie Orchestra / Alan Gilbert

»Anything goes!«

The American composer and pianist William Bolcom, who turned 85 in May 2023, is hardly known in Germany, at least not yet. But that’s due to change with his exciting Violin Concerto that Alan Gilbert and concertmaster Stefan Wagner perform at the Elbphilharmonie tonight. Forging links between classical music and jazz, between Igor Stravinsky and Duke Ellington, Bolcom made his own very personal contribution to the great tradition of virtuoso violin concertos in 1983. He took his inspiration from the special technique of the famous jazz violinist Joe Venuti, confirming once more the ideal of American music: »Anything goes!«