Dohnányi conducts Brahms

Programme

Principal Conductor of the Philharmonia for 11 years, and now Honorary Conductor for Life, Christoph von Dohnányi is one of the most distinguished and respected figures in classical music.

He opens with Brahms’s First Piano Concerto, musical drama on a symphonic scale. The piece stems from a turning point in Brahms’s life, the attempted suicide of his mentor Robert Schumann and his burgeoning love for Clara, Robert’s wife. Martin Helmchen follows in both Brahms’s and Clara Schumann’s footsteps as soloist, with “nimble fingers, questing intelligence and a beating heart” (The Times).

Over twenty years later, a more serene Brahms (still a steadfast friend to Clara) composed his Third Symphony. Woven through this graceful work is his musical motto, F – A flat – F, standing for ‘Frei aber froh’, free but happy.