Nikolaj Szeps-Znaider conducts Brahms and Schumann

Nikolaj Szeps-Znaider conducts Brahms and Schumann

Johann Sebastian Bach knew very well the consoling power that music has. He was virtually constantly composing new pieces – often following suggestions, as in the case of the six-part ricercar, a part of his »Musical Sacrifice«: none other than Frederick the Great inspired him in 1747 to compose this masterful fugue, which we perform in Anton Webern‘s colourful orchestration – before Schumann‘s symphony, in whose music Tchaikovsky felt »the echoes of mysterious processes in the life of our souls«. Schumann often poured his suffering into music, and composing to him was as a way of overcoming a crisis, such as in 1844/45: he had suffered a breakdown, the after-effects of which burdened him for a long time. But then he was suddenly overwhelmed by a creative impulse: »For some days now, it has been drumming and trumpeting within me.« This was the genesis of his second symphony, the result of musical self-therapy in a »dark time« when he initially continued to feel »half-sick« but gradually began to feel »better again«. Indeed, the symphony seems like a desperate struggle against tormenting demons – and swings ambiguously back and forth between melancholic and heroic passages. However, the evil spirits were not to leave Schumann: He died in a mental hospital in 1856 – at the time when Brahms was tinkering with his first piano concerto. The Adagio is thus seen as a soulful prayer for the deceased friend. Otherwise, though, the brilliant work captivates with passionate melodies and great gestures that strive to chase away all gloomy thoughts – completely in the spirit of Schumann‘s optimistic statement: »Sending light into the depths of the human heart – the artist‘s profession!«

Nikolaj Szeps-Znaider plays Tchaikovsky

Three very different composers, but in Wellber’s hands, they’re all part of the same unforgettable story.When Omer Meir Wellber is conducting, there’s no such thing as a routine concert – every performance is a chance to make unexpected connections; to hear familiar pieces in new and fascinating ways. Haydn blows the roof off with one of his most explosive symphonies, and the teenage Mahler gets seriously emotional in a rarely-heard early gem. Add another artist who strikes sparks – violinist Nikolaj Szeps-Znaider – and Tchaikovsky’s hugely popular Violin Concerto will never have sounded more alive. Three very different composers, but in Wellber’s hands, they’re all part of the same unforgettable story.

NDR Elbphilharmonie Orchestra / Nikolaj Szeps-Znaider

Nikolaj Szeps-Znaider has met with approval as a violinist for a long time. But in recent years, the Danish musician has also built up an impressive career as a conductor. He now swaps his violin for the »huge paintbrush«, as he calls the conductor’s baton, and can be heard on the rostrum for the first time. For his debut at the head of an orchestra, Szeps-Znaider has chosen what is perhaps the most popular symphony written by Tchaikovsky, that epitome of grand emotion and passion unleashed in music. In his Fifth Symphony, the Russian composer takes the listener from »the complete surrender to Fate« in the first movement and melodies full of effusive love in the second movement to a mood of radiant triumph in the finale. »Subito con forza!« (suddenly with force!) we want to cry when the E minor symphony’s main motif, so dark and gloomy at the outset, is transformed into a triumphant hymn in E major in the final bars. Of course, it remains a matter of opinion whether Fate itself wins the day or whether these sounds manifest the happy overcoming of all providence.

Nikolaj Szeps-Znaider in Beethoven's Violin Concerto

The SummerConcerts powered by VriendenLoterij present two months of wonderful concerts, from classical to jazz and from pop music to film scores. Top musicians from the Netherlands and around the world bring you all your favourite classical pieces, as well as tributes to Leonard Cohen and The Beatles, and all your favourite film music.We also present a host of young talent in our summer concerts, including youth orchestras from South Africa and Turkey, and top young classical soloists. After many of the concerts, we offer a meet-and-greet with the artists in an informal setting, or an afterparty with DJ in the Entrance Hall. In one of the world’s finest concert halls, there’s something for everyone this summer at The Concertgebouw!

NDR Elbphilharmonie Orchestra / Piotr Anderszewski / Nikolaj Szeps-Znaider

Nikolaj Szeps-Znaider has met with approval as a violinist for a long time. But in recent years, the Danish musician has also built up an impressive career as a conductor. He now swaps his violin for the »huge paintbrush«, as he calls the conductor’s baton, and can be heard on the rostrum for the first time. For his debut at the head of an orchestra, Szeps-Znaider has chosen what is perhaps the most popular symphony written by Tchaikovsky, that epitome of grand emotion and passion unleashed in music. In his Fifth Symphony, the Russian composer takes the listener from »the complete surrender to Fate« in the first movement and melodies full of effusive love in the second movement to a mood of radiant triumph in the finale. »Subito con forza!« (suddenly with force!) we want to cry when the E minor symphony’s main motif, so dark and gloomy at the outset, is transformed into a triumphant hymn in E major in the final bars. Composer Unsuk Chin chose precisely this Italian expression marking as the title of the 5-minute opening piece that she wrote in Beethoven Year 2020, making free use of several Beethoven quotations. And Beethoven is the next composer on the programme: exceptional Polish pianist Piotr Anderszewski returns once again to the NDR Elbphilharmonie Orchestra to play the First Piano Concerto by the titan of the First Viennese School, written when Beethoven was still under the age of 30. Anderszewski once said, »The piano is a percussion instrument that pretends it can sing, but that’s just an assertion, you know. Even if one secretly wishes that it really could sing.« Anyone hearing Anderszewski play the concerto’s wonderful largo will probably have to say that he is simply toying with us here.

NDR Elbphilharmonie Orchestra / Piotr Anderszewski / Nikolaj Szeps-Znaider

Nikolaj Szeps-Znaider has met with approval as a violinist for a long time. But in recent years, the Danish musician has also built up an impressive career as a conductor. He now swaps his violin for the »huge paintbrush«, as he calls the conductor’s baton, and can be heard on the rostrum for the first time. For his debut at the head of an orchestra, Szeps-Znaider has chosen what is perhaps the most popular symphony written by Tchaikovsky, that epitome of grand emotion and passion unleashed in music. In his Fifth Symphony, the Russian composer takes the listener from »the complete surrender to Fate« in the first movement and melodies full of effusive love in the second movement to a mood of radiant triumph in the finale. »Subito con forza!« (suddenly with force!) we want to cry when the E minor symphony’s main motif, so dark and gloomy at the outset, is transformed into a triumphant hymn in E major in the final bars. Composer Unsuk Chin chose precisely this Italian expression marking as the title of the 5-minute opening piece that she wrote in Beethoven Year 2020, making free use of several Beethoven quotations. And Beethoven is the next composer on the programme: exceptional Polish pianist Piotr Anderszewski returns once again to the NDR Elbphilharmonie Orchestra to play the First Piano Concerto by the titan of the First Viennese School, written when Beethoven was still under the age of 30. Anderszewski once said, »The piano is a percussion instrument that pretends it can sing, but that’s just an assertion, you know. Even if one secretly wishes that it really could sing.« Anyone hearing Anderszewski play the concerto’s wonderful largo will probably have to say that he is simply toying with us here.

Nikolaj Szeps-Znaider, Gautier Capuçon & Daniil Trifonov

Classical Hour Nikolaj Szeps-Znaider Pyotr Tchaikovsky

“The music from this ballet will become one of my best works. The subject is so poetic, so well suited to music, that I was entirely engrossed in composing it, and wrote with an ardor and passion which always results,” wrote Pyotr Tchaikovsky (1841-1893) during the work with Sleeping Beauty.With Swan Lake, Sleeping Beauty, and The Nutcracker, Tchaikovsky set a completely new standard for the ballet genre and greatly raised the status of ballet music. Sleeping Beauty premiered in 1890. The Sleeping Beauty Suite, composed after his death, features five orchestral excerpts from the ballet.

Rudolf Buchbinder, Nikolaj Szeps-Znaider & Gautier Capuçon

Jakub Hrůša conducts Wagner, Brahms and Schumann

»Two souls dwell, alas! in my heart« – Schumann knew only too well this dilemma described by Goethe in »Faust«: in his life, highs and lows, creative rushes and crises continually alternated. When he composed his piano concerto in 1845, he was living with his family in Dresden – where, however, he hardly played a role next to Wagner. And so the sounds of this touching work tell of his suffering and longings. Immortalised in the notes is his beloved wife Clara, who thought of it: »How rich in invention, how intriguing from the beginning to the end.« We look forward to the interpretations of Lukáš Vondráček and Hélène Grimaud – who is often described as a musical philosopher. The fact that Clara and Brahms were one heart and soul must have been a thorn in Schumann‘s side. Even after his tragic demise, the two of them remained close and consulted each other on artistic matters. After Brahms completed his elaborate third symphony in the summer of 1883 in the Wiesbaden region, Clara raved about its »mysterious spell«: »What poetry, the most harmonious mood throughout it all, the movements all as if from one mould, a heartbeat, each movement a gem!« Two Wagner pieces full of deep psychological tensions will serve as a frame of reference for us: The stage-saga about the swan knight Lohengrin, first performed in 1850, takes us into an environment detached from the hustle and bustle of the world – but into which reality crashes bitterly. The Tannhäuser opera of 1845 revolves around an outsider: he is torn between sinful passion and the desire for godly love – and only finds redemption in death, according to Wagner with the reconciliation of the elements: »Spirit and senses, God and nature embrace in the holy and uniting kiss of love.«Recording & broadcast BR-KLASSIK