Herreweghe conducts Brahms

Programme

Bach, Beethoven and Brahms – tonight’s programme brings together three giants in the pantheon of classical music.

Philippe Herreweghe is best known for his crystal-clear interpretations of music from the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries. He begins with Bach’s third Brandenburg Concerto, a sparkling piece for small string ensemble full of intricacy and imagination.

Pianist Paul Lewis lives and breathes Beethoven. He has performed and recorded all Beethoven’s Piano Concertos and Sonatas, and is regarded as one of today’s foremost exponents of his music. This concerto showcases his virtuosity in the boisterous outer movements, and his eloquence in the lyrical, heartfelt slow movement.

Brahms looks back to the musical forms of Bach’s time in the finale of his last symphony. It is a huge passacaglia, a set of variations on a repeated bass pattern. This is masterful music from a composer at the top of his game.