Pärt | Fratres

Beethoven | Piano Concerto 4

Brahms | Symphony 3

INTRODUCTION: 6:30 PM | CONCERT START: 7:30 PM
 

Belief

"Subtraction structures", "proportional canons", "isorhythm" - such technical terms could be off-putting. But on the contrary, Arvo Pärt is one of the most popular composers of our time, beloved even and especially by listeners less familiar with classical music. Fratres, his most famous work, is typical of Pärt's focus on the essential: "I have discovered that it is enough when only a single note is beautifully played. This single note - or a pause, or a moment of silence - consoles me." The deeply devout composer will celebrate his 89th birthday in September 2024.

Hope

No one had dared such a beginning before: contemplative, almost shy, the piano invites the orchestra to a dialogue. Also unique is the interplay between soloist and strings in the second movement - an Andante, already imbued with the spirit of Romanticism. When Ludwig van Beethoven wrote his fourth piano concerto, he began to regain hope, started to come to terms with his deafness. Many works from this time - the Violin Concerto, the Fourth Symphony, the Quartets op. 59 - exude a similar sense of relaxation.

Love

In 1883, the young singer Hermine Spiess captured the heart of the 50-year-old Johannes Brahms. She called it her "Johannes Passion". And Brahms? He spent the summer holidays in Wiesbaden to be close to her. It was here that the third symphony was born, a milestone in his development as a symphonist. New elements include the cyclic interweaving through a motto theme, the high motivic concentration, and the poetic, gentle conclusions of all four movements, including the finale. And there is yet another thing: "There is a mood in it, like one does not often find in Brahms! It is all love, and it warms the heart," Dvořák raved. Did he come close to a hidden truth?

Conductor: Jens Troester

Soloist: Ben Kim, piano

Orchestra: Neue Philharmonie Frankfurt

Rossini | Semiramide Overture

Chausson | Poem of Love and Death

Canteloube | Songs of the Auvergne

Stravinsky | Firebird Suite 2

INTRODUCTION: 6:30 pm | CONCERT START: 7:30 pm
 

Monsieur Crescendo

The enthusiasm that Gioachino Rossini's operas aroused in the audience is hard to overestimate. After the Napoleonic Wars, his music satisfied Europe's hunger for entertainment at the highest level. He was called "Monsieur Crescendo" for the brilliant crescendos that became his trademark. This is evident in the Overture to Semiramide: starting with lively fanfares, horn chorales, and melancholic oboe tunes, the Allegro section features a rapid succession of lively melodies, building up to an exhilarating crescendo and a triumphant finale.

Love Poem

In 1899, a bicycle accident took Ernest Chausson's life, depriving France of its most important composer between Wagner and Debussy. The Poem of Love and the Sea is Chausson's masterpiece for soprano and orchestra, lushly romantic, with long melodic arcs and a subtle sense for orchestral colors.

Songs of the Auvergne

Joseph Canteloube loved his homeland and paid tribute to it with the Songs of the Auvergne, musical gems that each received their own enchanting setting. The second song of the collection, Baïlèro, is a special favorite among vocalists: divas like Kiri te Kanawa, Renée Fleming, or pop star Barbra Streisand have recorded versions of it.

Firebird

While other composers have their nine symphonies, Igor Stravinsky has his eleven ballets: essential works that best reveal his musical identity. The series began in 1910 with The Firebird. Stravinsky showcased everything he had learned from his teacher Rimsky-Korsakov, surpassing him with the sparkling grandeur of the orchestration in the impressionistic style. A spectacular career debut for the most significant composer of the 20th century.

Conductor: Jens Troester

Soloist: Nina Bernsteiner, Mezzo-Soprano

Orchestra: New Philharmonia Frankfurt