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Concert in the Wiener Konzerthaus
Wiener Konzerthaus, Large Hall (Wien)
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»Wherever you go, go with all your heart.« True to this saying, we are travelling on winding paths again – after all, we are Bavaria’s cultural ambassadors in the world. It gives us great pleasure to be touring across Europe to distribute musical calling cards from our wide-ranging repertoire to audiences elsewhere – who may well be curious. Jakub Hrůša once said that he loves it when people »really come with an open heart and are open to experiencing something completely new – and then relate it to what they already know«. At the request of the exceptionally gifted pianist Daniil Trifonov, this time the tour takes us to numerous places in Central Europe, to concert halls that we haven't performed in for a long time. In our suitcases we bring those exciting works that we have presented to our esteemed Bamberg audience for a long time – and although we are now travelling around for a while, we will of course always return to our beloved »home port« on the Regnitz later on.
Daniel Harding will perform Beethoven’s Fifth Piano Concerto together with Leif Ove Andsnes. Composed in 1809 during the Napoleonic occupation of Vienna, its expansive structure exudes a longing for peace and humanity. Instead of the planned Sinfonia domestica, the second part features two of Richard Strauss’ most popular tone poems, Death and Transfiguration and Don Juan, with which the young composer finally embarked on the path to becoming a “musician of the future”. Strauss established his fame as the leading opera composer of his time a few years later with Salome. The culmination of this ground-breaking work is Salome’s lascivious Dance of the Seven Veils – a dramaturgical and tonal fascination to this day.
Clara Schumann virtually stopped composing after her marriage, having not only to earn money from concert appearances for her steadily growing family, but also to give her husband space for his own composing. Yet her sole orchestral work fully merits a firm place in the repertoire. Pianist Beatrice Rana has accepted the challenge of the richly chordal yet splendidly melodious solo part. The slow movement (Romanza) opens with a passionate monologue, followed by an intimate tête-à-tête with the cello. The defiantly hymnic finale likewise places its focus on the piano – Clara’s voice. The programme continues with Symphony No. 3 by Johannes Brahms, the second great love in Clara’s life. “What a work! What poetry!” she exclaimed when she first heard it; “a heartbeat, every movement a jewel!” Before the interval we will hear Hans Abrahamsen’s Vers le silence, a work commissioned by several orchestras, including the BRSO. Here the composer takes up the four elements – fire, earth, wind, water – and adds a fifth element fully in keeping with Greek philosophy: transcendent nature. At the helm of the orchestra in this unusually exciting programme is the well-known Canadian conductor Yannick Nézet-Séguin.