BEETHOVEN BRAHMS

An important moment in the 63rd edition of the Settimane Musicali di Stresa, this evening’s concert boasts the Orchestra della Royal Concertgebouw from Amsterdam, conducted by Myung-Whun Chung, with the pianist Sir Andras Schiff.   The Dutch orchestra, which last played at the Festival in 1988, is considered one of the most prestigious on the international stage, and its very name is an absolute guarantee!
The two other ‘stars’ of the evening are the Korean conductor Myung-Whun Chung, whose career has seen him on the podium with the major symphony orchestras, and Sir Andras Schiff, appreciated throughout the world for his interpretations of a vast piano repertoire.
The first part of the program features Beethoven’s Concerto per pianoforte e orchestra no. 4, which was first performed in 1808 in Vienna. Composed in a moment of great artistic fertility – including Fidelio and the Fifth Symphony, Concerto no. 4 does not follow the traditional models, and marks the start of a personal, innovative concept of this form.
After the interval we move on to Brahms’ Symphony No. 4, the last one written by the great Hamburg composer. Performed for the first time in 1885, under the baton of Brahms himself, it was an immediate success. Since then it has gained a place among the great symphonies, and is rightly considered a piece that distinguishes the major classical orchestras.