(Above: Soloist Jayson Gillham & Conductor Michał Dworzyński)
The acclaimed Polish conductor Michał Dworzyński brings two popular scores by Grieg and Brahms to the podium for the KZN Philharmonic Orchestra’s second World Symphony Series concert of the season. This takes place tomorrow (Thursday, October 13, 2022) at 19h00 in the Playhouse Opera.
Grieg’s ubiquitous Piano Concerto in A minor was written in 1868, the only concerto the Norwegian composer completed. It has long been championed by generations of virtuosi, not least by the concert’s soloist, the London-based Australian pianist, Jayson Gillham, winner of the 2014 Montreal International Music Competition. The concerto is often compared (and recorded as a companion) to the Piano Concerto of Robert Schumann. It shares the same key, and its character is palpably closer to Schumann than any other single composer. Grieg heard Schumann’s work performed by the latter’s wife, Clara Wieck, in Leipzig in 1858, and was greatly influenced by Schumann’s style, having been taught the piano by Schumann’s friend, Ernst Ferdinand Wenzel.
Johannes Brahms famously declared to the conductor Hermann Levi, “I shall never write a symphony! You have no idea what it’s like to hear such a giant marching behind you.” The giant was Beethoven, of course, and although his music provided essential inspiration for Brahms, it set such a high standard that the younger composer discounted his own creations in comparison. Nonetheless, the young Brahms doggedly confronted his compositional demons. He devoted 14 years to the creation of his first symphony, beginning it in 1862. Revisions were made prior to its publication in 1877, following its world première in November 1876, in Baden, Germany, with Otto Dessoff conducting the Grossherzogliche Hofkapelle. The work triumphed at its New York Philharmonic première in December 1877, under the baton of Theodore Thomas. With good reason, it rapidly went on to claim and sustain an honoured place in international music circles.
Secure your seats now through marketing@kznphil.org.za, 031 369 9438, or online from Quicket.
The musical offerings of the remaining concerts in the Spring Season can be viewed in the full brochure online here: https://mcusercontent.com/a9401b52c844e85fe6ffcacc0/files/f3c372dd-a00e-3ac7-adc9-e35ff8c9f30d/eBrochure_KZN_Phil_Spring_Season_2022.01.pdf
To link direct to the KZN Philharmonic’s website click on their advert at the top right-hand corner of this page.
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