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Both Klaus Mäkelä and Vilde Frang launched their international careers with the Oslo Philharmonic. The charismatic Finn was appointed chief conductor of the orchestra at the age of 22 and violinist Frang performed as a soloist in her native Oslo at the early age of twelve. Now they join forces in Hamburg to play Igor Stravinsky’s lively violin concerto. This is followed after the interval by Tchaikovsky’s Fourth Symphony. The two pieces could not be more different. Stravinsky’s neoclassical concerto sparkles with humour and joy – it is often seen as a parody of the genre. Tchaikovsky’s Fourth Symphony, on the other hand, deals with life’s great topics. As in the Beethoven, fate descends on listeners with a powerful fanfare at the very beginning. Tchaikovsky did not deny the parallels with his great idol and his »Fate Symphony«: »Basically, my symphony is an imitation of Beethoven’s Fifth Symphony.«
Two of music history’s great and very special instrumental concertos are on this evening’s programme, when Klaus Mäkelä conducts the Oslo Philharmonic: Ludwig van Beethoven’s triumphant Fifth Piano Concerto and Béla Bartók’s »Concerto for Orchestra«. Norwegian pianist Leif Ove Andsnes plays the solo part in the Beethoven. Andsnes has often been a guest in Hamburg, including his »Beethoven Journey«, where he played all five of the composer’s piano concertos. Beethoven wrote his last piano concerto in the »heroic key« of E-flat major, which is why it is also known as the »Emperor» in English-speaking countries. However, this title belies the many gentle and lyrical moments in the piece. It’s hard to believe that Beethoven was almost deaf when he composed this stirring music. Bartók’s »Concerto for Orchestra« gives the members of the Oslo Philharmonic a chance to prove their mettle: instead of one solo instrument, the individual orchestral groups take turns playing the solo parts. Shortly before his death, Bartók composed this modern classic in his unloved American exile, which he described as »a gradual transition from the seriousness of the first movement and the lament of the third to the affirmation of life in the finale«. The longing for his native Hungary can be heard in the many musical echoes of his homeland.