Brahms & Beethoven

Australian violin virtuoso Richard Tognetti is coming to NFM once again! In line with one of the main trends of the current artistic season, he will turn to the music of Johannes Brahms and perform the solo part of the Violin Concerto in D major. After the break, Ludwig van Beethoven's Seventh Symphony will be played, the second part of which has penetrated into pop culture for good. In both works Tognetti will conduct the friendly NFM Chamber Orchestra Leopoldinum.

Brahms already had a reputation as a composer difficult to perceive during his lifetime, which is why his only violin concerto, written in 1878, differed from the tradition of the illustrious genre. Although it was written for Joseph Joachim — an outstanding instrumentalist, a long-time friend of the composer, who shared his ideas — it is an example of a work in which constructive values prevail over virtuosity. The concert, a reference to Beethoven's work in the same key, sounded with him during the premiere, which Brahms was not happy about. This should not be surprising — there is hardly a more serious test for innovative music than comparing it with the classics of the genre. Despite this, the effect of the author's efforts has become an indisputable element of the canon. The series consists of the symphonic Allegro non troppo, the reflective Adagio and — like Brahms — the humorous Allegro giocoso.

Ludwig van Beethoven's Seventh Symphony in A major, which will be played in the second part of the evening, was written exactly sixty-six years earlier than the work already mentioned. Its creator was then living in the Czech Teplice, located near Ústí nad Labem, where he went to get some health. It is speculated that the composition was an expression of opposition to Napoleonic domination of Europe (the artist did not yet know that it was about to end). The premiere took place already after the defeat of the French Emperor at Leipzig. The strong point of this symphonic cycle is not only that it makes Allegretto cringe. The other links were also based on really fascinating rhythmic systems.