ConcertPulse
Guest performance with András Schiff in Erlangen
E.T.A. Hoffmann wrote that "Haydn and Mozart, the creators of the newer instrumental music, first showed us art in its full glory; but Beethoven is the one who looked at it with a gaze full of love and penetrated its innermost essence.” András Schiff features in this concert as both conductor and pianist, performing works inspired by very different places and ideas. Our musical journey will start with one of Haydn’s "London Symphonies”, named for the British capital even though Haydn did not in fact compose it there. Rather, he travelled to England with the score of the E flat major Symphony in his luggage, ready to be premiered shortly after his arrival in 1794. One critic praised its “ideas, as new in music as they are grand and impressive”. Our programme also features Beethoven’s popular Fifth Piano Concerto. It was composed in 1809, when Vienna was being bombarded by French troops. In the English-speaking world, the concerto is known as "Emperor” because of its thundering, martial tone. But its rich trove of complex emotions is equally fascinating – Beethoven is said to have had "the religious songs of pious pilgrims" in mind when composing the Adagio. In addition to these two masterpieces, our orchestra will perform a work that draws on the music of earlier times: the folk music of his native region was an important source of inspiration for Bartók, and his ravishing dance suite is "a kind of ideally conceived peasant music". He wrote it in 1923 for the 50th anniversary of the unification of Buda, Óbuda, and Pest to form the new capital city of Budapest. In doing so, Bartók looked beyond the borders of Hungary, weaving Romanian, Slovakian and even Arabic influences into his work. After all, his goal was to “create a new spirit in music – from musical forces sprung from the earth itself!”This project was originally planned for December 2020 but had to be postponed due to the Covid-19 pandemic – we are thrilled that the great artist Andràs Schiff is now finally able to join us in Bamberg!