NDR Elbphilharmonie Orchestra / Krzysztof Urbański

Violinist Frank Peter Zimmermann stayed well clear of Tchaikovsky’s violin concerto for fifteen years. But he has spent the last two years exploring and rediscovering this standard work among violin concertos: »By now it is exactly those lyrical passages and interludes that fascinate me the most because Tchaikovsky is, in these places, composing twists and turns you never see anywhere else,« says the violinist today. An old flame never dies, after all.

The Czech composer Antonín Dvořák completed his Symphony No. 7 in d minor in March 1885. He was determined to live up to the praise afforded his earlier symphonies by his venerated colleague Johannes Brahms. This ambition weighed heavily on his shoulders: »I am now working on the new symphony,« wrote Dvořák about his Seventh. »And no matter where I go, I cannot think of anything other than my work, which must succeed in stirring the world.« That is one feat he certainly accomplished.